


Through the Timestream

by Romans_154



Series: The Vault of History [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Game), Halo
Genre: Crossover n all that, Gen, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Time Travel, au - certain people live, first story on this site, let's do this shit, slightly AU, you know, you know who im talking about
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-03-12 07:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 74,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3348473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romans_154/pseuds/Romans_154
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a last ditch attempt to save his fireteam, Titan Guardian Callixtus sacrifices himself to defeat Atheon, thinking he would be erased from time and space itself. Instead, Atheon opened a timestream, throwing Callixtus deep in the past, far past the Golden Age, tumbling head over ass before landing in a holy alien city called High Charity.</p><p>Revered as a god by the aliens and an impossible hero by an early series of Humans, Callixtus is thrust neck deep in a war he merely thought as stories days ago, fighting side-by-side with a man seen as a hero by those who remember him, the Master Chief.</p><p>But not all is right, as the war wages on, time warps around them and new yet old enemies and allies will soon arise.</p><p>-Currently being rewritten!! May be updated with a tenth chapter soon along with a new story! Thank you for reading!-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Callixtus's Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting this from FF.net, yay
> 
> Anyone who's read this from FF.net will see significant changes being made. Editing in progress, I suppose. The one posted on here will indefinitely be neater, longer, and, well, more appealing.
> 
> Anywho, here we go.

It was painless as it was before, nothing necessarily  _new_ to him. As he fell, he saw the panicked stance the other soldier held before his composure was regained and then he was running towards the fallen one. Then it appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like body preventing the others from reaching his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.

* * *

  _Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the still forms of those frozen in time as they still lived. Looking over where it would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his enemies._

_With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other._

_As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly. Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It would have to be a matter to discussed later._

_He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, dark words that he dared not to utter. And once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores._

_The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around, immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux._

_Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran horizontally down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then._

_This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other behind once more._

_What was new was what stood behind it. With its left appendage raised to the skies of the Vault and its gaze fixated on him, there stood Atheon. It's body glowed but the Light it had was in stark contrast to the Light that the Ghost flower carried, it was dim._

_Hesitantly, he stepped forward, reaching out for the Ghost flower but jumped back when Atheon moved, stepping in front of the flower with a low rumble, its parts emitting a low whine and he stepped back once more, keeping a respectable and cautious distance from the Vex Ultra._

_"We are connected, you and I," it uttered, voice echoing violently around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once. "The Time's Conflux does not come without a price, creature of the Light. I am lost in time and you are lost in history. I exist only within your mind for you have sought my power and wretched it from my grasp."_

_"I only sought to end the Vault and all who dwell within." His voice was muted and not the grand comparison to the Vex before him. "You nearly took the lives of my comrades. You took the lives of Guardians."_

_"They are forever lost to the dark corners of space and time, they have not perished. A consequence for ill-preparedness and attempting to disturb the Conflux."_

_"There are worse things than dying."_

_"You and I both know what these 'worses' are."_

_"What do you want?" Atheon turned its head towards one of the empty Gates before looking back at his face, the glow almost significantly getting brighter at the question._

_"We are at an impasse, Guardian. You wish to be resurrected and I want my power. I have been infected with your Light and you have been burdened with the Time's Conflux and my Darkness. I know what you are, Guardian, I have delved into your mind as you wander. You are dying. The imbalance is killing you. Every time you use the Conflux, the Darkness weakens you."_

_"Are you offering to prevent this?"_

_"When you die of the growing Darkness, you will die permanently. I do not care for this. However, when you do die, you will take the Conflux with you. You will kill my power."_

_"Sounds like a good plan."_

_"I am a creature of Time, Guardian, and I have seen your possible futures. Should you die, they will not extend into your Golden Age you so covet."_

_"How do I know you're not lying?"_

_"Let me guide you. Turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light."_

_"Right, because I need the one being that threw me here in the first place to save me from a terminal illness."_

_"You will command entire armies of the Vex!"_

_"Step aside." He sidestepped the Vex and towards the Ghost flower yet his way was once more barred by the giant synthetic-organic._

_"You will not defy me!" He glared up at the Vex, the area darkening significantly in answer to his equally darkening emotion._

_"I could turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light myself, I do not need your assistance_ _," he growled in a scathingly low voice. "I do not confer to Vex with god complexes. The Golden Age is a fixed point, nothing can prevent it and Humanity's ascension, not even you. Not me."_

_Drawing up his chest and holding his head high as he fixated the Vex with an irritated and threatening gaze, he continued in a soft, dangerous voice,_

_"If I see you here again, Traveler knows how you even got in here, no one will remember that you existed. I will erase you myself."_

_"You wouldn't dare-"_

_"I have nothing to lose." Atheon paused, seemingly contemplating his offer before it whirred._

_"I have given you an offer, Guardian, yet you refuse. So be it. You will die by the Darkness and I will be reborn once more, superiour to all."_

_"The grass will grow, birds will fly, air will blow, and the sun will shine. The Universe continues to rotate and no one gives a shit." He scowled and jumped around the Vex, plucking the flower._

_Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine followed by the growing glow of Light; the sound clashed with the roar of Atheon as the Vex lunged forward only to be pushed back by pure force of Light._

_Just as he was about to step through the portal the Light had formed, a yell made him take pause and he turned hesitantly to see something - no - some **one** running towards him and the Light. He didn't have time to register who it was as the Light pulled him in but the familiar voice rang out as a desperate cry,_

_"Callixtus, don't leave me here!"_

* * *

The Light launched him to his feet, reforming his body, and he smoothly leapt back into action, ignoring the cries of confusion and the cries of outrage from either side. It wasn't time yet. He wasn't going to let the Conflux kill him, he wouldn't let Atheon have the satisfaction of his death.

Rolling back and away from the barrage of plasma grenades, he felt his back come to contact with the super-soldier, the Master Chief. Comrade. Brother-in-arms. Friend. He could call him friend at this point.

"You died," it was more of a statement rather than a question and he nodded in blatant confirmation.

"We make our mistakes," the Ghost chirped from its position over his shoulder. "Although I do wonder what was that old saying again? 'Spartan's never die'?"

"It seems the same applies to Guardians."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have a new and improved prologue for those of you from FF.net. Yes, a new character will be introduced.
> 
> I won't be posting all the chapters right away because I want to edit them. I'm also working on the sixth chapter which will first be posted on FF.net and then AO3.
> 
> If you can, please leave a comment, I do appreciate them.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	2. To New Beginnings - Callixtus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Better captured in an alien city than erased and forgotten, the Titan supposes.

The Titan felt for something to grasp when the timestream threw him on to solid ground; he stumbled to his feet, groping blindly as his vision tried to clear up. Something grabbed at him roughly and he reacted violently, startled, by delivering a solid strike into the center of the mass. It howled before disappearing into the void and the area fell hushed, previously full of shrieking and demands he couldn't understand, and then he heard something akin to soft singing and he blinked rapidly in the bright lights.

Something took his wrist gently and he tried to shrink away from it as the singing got louder and the room became uproarious once more. He looked around, seeing nothing but a clash of colors, jerking the thing's grip away from him as he edged away.

He didn't get very far when a golden glow appeared off to his left, delivering a sage form that he couldn't even begin to decipher. Two strong forms stepped in front of him and the world descended into chaos; he couldn't comprehend what was happening, the timestream leaving him all but blind and oblivious and soon he was knocked down, pain traveling across his body before he completely blacked out.

Callixtus swam in and out of consciousness, the colors swirling again as his Ghost spoke within his mind, trying to coax him out of his haze of pain and weakness, he could feel himself being dragged along the ground roughly; he heard garbled voices, maybe even screaming and gunfire at one point, he can't remember, and then he snapped awake with a gasp and a dizzying rush of blood straight to his head before he sat up abruptly. He blinked slowly, peering around the area in momentary confusion before looking at himself for any injuries, satisfied that they were at a minimum of tiny cuts and bruises.

Thank the Traveler, whoever threw him into this cell hadn't figured out how to take his armor off although his hands were bound in front of him by some strange looking cuffs. He began tugging at them lightly, testing their strength and durability when he suddenly felt something heavy and invisible roll over and through him, causing him to shiver and mutter curses under his breath: it appeared there was a  _minuscule_ influence of the Darkness on his captors. Enough to be felt but not enough to cause any lasting damage on his being but he was wary of its presence.

 _Ghost?_ Callixtus prodded around in his own mind before coming across a presence that was not his own.  _Ghost, where are we?_

 _Unknown._ The Ghost replied almost immediately.  _Sort of. I tried to take some scans of the nearby area, see if we could get a hint of where we are. Nothing but dust and echoes outside; I'm making the assumption we're on some kind of space station. Doesn't look like anything the Fallen or Cabal would have although it appears to have_ some  _kind of resemblance to the Awoken. I highly doubt they'd keep you in their dungeon or prison, you're a trusted guard of the Queen Herself._.

 _Yet there appears to be Dark influences about._ The Titan drew himself to his feet, walking forward to inspect the faded purple barrier that separated him from breaking free. Touching it, he stepped back in surprise when it wavered and allowed him to fully calculate what the material was.  _I did not know plasma barriers were still used, most everyone has upgraded to either Hardlight or the three Light elements, right?_

 _Yes._ Ghost agreed slowly, humming in thought.  _Perhaps we've stumbled across some pioneers or maybe a_ very  _lost and_ very  _old fireteam. There are many reported to have been lost._

 _Well, we need to get out. I do not like this, it is too-_ the Guardian was cut short with a verbal yell when a furry humanoid slammed itself in front of his cell with a roar. He jumped back, crouching low and reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. The humanoid alien was akin to an ape if the Titan's memory served him correctly and it let out a bellow, its teeth snarling and gnashing as beady black eyes stared at his visor.

They stared at each other for several tense minutes before the alien turned away and barked something in a garbled language; soon, shouting and growling started up as another ape-like alien appeared, dragging a small creature behind it. Opening the cell quickly, the first ape grabbed the creature harshly by what looked to be a neck and threw it into the cell and closed it before Callixtus could lunge forward and escape.

The two alien comrades then spat at the cell before laughing in their guttural voices and storming away, leaving Callixtus to move to one end of the cell and crouch low, watching the other creature with a curious but deadly gaze. It was covered in brown armor, a mere coughing lump, but when it got on all fours and then to its feet, Callixtus saw that it was in fact  _H_ _uman_. Granted, a comparably small one to the Human Guardians or Humans Callixtus had seen in general but they were  _H_ _uman_ nonetheless.

The Human was probably scraping 6'1 in the least and was a male with tawny brown eyes and rather dark skin; he dressed in poor combat gear, armor that looked like it belong in the pre-Golden Age era, not very protective from the looks of it and heavy. No wonder he had been caught by those  _brutes_.

The Human had turned to him, staring at him with caution but also curiosity and an almost  _friendly_ look. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak but all that tumbled out were more garbled words although the words appeared to be noticeably smoother than those of the aliens. Still, it made no sense, sounding more like as if he were attempting to sing yet couldn't produce a song to save his life. This left Callixtus furrowing his brow and tilting his head as if he could listen to it better, trying to make.

 _Ghost, what in the world is that Human saying?_ The Titan thought as the Human made several gestures, continuing to speak in that garbled language of his.

 _I...don't know. It sounds like a **very** ancient commontongue. _The little light replied, confusion evident as it worked to rearrange and decipher the language barrier they had slammed into.  _Yes, the tongue this Human speaks in is one used long before the Golden Age. I've seen it before but ever since the Traveler arrived, I've only been updated with the recent dialects. I can piece some of it together but in order for me to fully translate, it's going to take some time._

_Alright, do what you can. I do not think I will be able to stand this type of tongue any time soon; it sounds unnatural and painful._

_Maybe if I could find some kind of digital dictionary or..._ Ghost mumbled, its presence fading as it went off deeper into the Guardian's mind to observe and translate in peace. Callixtus turned his attention back to the Human who had taken to sitting with his back against the wall, continuing to babble, seemingly unaware that the Guardian had long since stopped listening.

 _Hey,_ Ghost's presence was faint but there,  _and while I'm doing this maybe you could, I dunno...work up some of your energy to do a jailbreak._

With that pointed out, Callixtus looked at the corner of his HUD where it displayed his supplies and sighed. It was slow going; with no Orbs and the slight hindrance of the unexpected sliver of Darkness, it would certainly be a while before a Super Energy was built up. For now, all he could do was sit back and stare longingly at the hall in front of him as the Human continued to talk in the background.

* * *

Callixtus practically jumped about a foot in the air when he heard a loud nasally voice talking in broken sentences. The Human appeared startled but then shrugged when the Titan began stretching; Callixtus frowned when he realized that he had fallen asleep, had he been sitting there for that long? Turning to face the Human, he listened intently on the voice, only being able to pick out very simplistic words here and there.

So that voice was the Human's in the commontongue. Unfortunately, to the Guardian's poor ears, it was like listening to a scrambled communication, only being able to pick out a word here and there. At least the Ghost worked quickly on unscrambling the language.

Looking at his charge, he felt a surge of excitement as he realized there was only a sliver of it to go and then he could test it out against the plasma barrier.

 _You ready to go, Ghost_ _?_ Callixtus asked as he got to his feet, startling the Human once more with his sudden movement.

 _Whenever you are, Guardian. I've already located your weapons as well as other Humans, I can set a NavPoint once you get out._ The little light answered smoothly, its presence filling Callixtus with a familiar comfort.  _I'll continue translating; I've discovered the most used words these Humans use, it should be easier once I get into the flow of things._

 _Good. I cannot stand hearing this broken conversation anymore._ All the Titan received was an amused hum as his HUD pinged with the notification that his Super Charge was ready.

"What's - on?" The Human asked, looking concerned. The Guardian simply guided the other to the far end of the cell, motioning for him to stay put before turning to the purple plasma barrier. "What are you-?"

Callixtus didn't bother to explain as he inspected the barrier from afar; he didn't exactly have a whole lot of jumping room but that could compensate with how  _far_ he could jump. A good shock would do.

Making sure his back was touching the wall, Callixtus let the Light gather beneath his feet, transforming into Arc energy before he sprang forward, hands clasped together into a giant fist as the energy spiraled and crackled around him, snapping at the air before he crashed against the barrier. The energy surged forward into a powerful wave, tearing down the barrier, across the hall, and into the next cell.

Soon enough, overwhelming, shrilling alarms blared as Callixtus turned towards the stunned Human and dragged him out of the cell and down the hall. They didn't make it far when they finally ran into one of the brutish aliens standing guard. With a roar, the brute charged towards them with the intent of crushing one of them against a cell wall; Callixtus pushed the Human out of the way before lowering his shoulder and sprinted towards the raging beast.

At the last second, the Titan called forward a burst of Arc energy and threw his spiked shoulder into the brute, caving in the light armour, coating his shoulder in crimson blood, and tossing it aside with ease.

Once more, Callixtus turned and grabbed the shocked Human, who simply stared at the dead alien before looking over at it and giving him a confused but awed gaze, and led him down the hall towards Ghost's NavPoint, revealing some type of room used to store the prisoners' items.

He let the Human go as soon as he saw his weapons laying flat on a table; he holstered Hawkmoon and Thorn, favouring the Crusader I for now. He allowed Ghost to gain control of Icebreaker and Murmur as he took control of the Invective; his machine gun chirped a cheery greeting as he picked it up along with Gjallarhorn and an old FWC rocket launcher he'd never been able to let go of, not that he was particularly fond of the faction itself.

Satisfied that he was armed up once more, he turned to the Human to find him standing ready with a strange purple weapon that had pink crystals sticking out of it, the weapon itself having been grabbed from a nearby weapons' rack. The Titan smirked, that weapon was nearly as big as the Human's torso.

 _By the Traveler's Light!_ Ghost exclaimed, its presence a thunderous hurricane as it overwhelmed Callixtus with its own excitement.  _The last time I saw that weapon was during an antique showing displayed in front of the Traveler! What is it doing here?!_

 _There are several more displayed on that weapons rack over there, Ghost, what do you mean 'antique'?_ Callixtus questioned as he gestured for the Human to follow him, slowly creeping out of the room and outside of the brig.

The door opened automatically as soon as Callixtus approached it and he was met, face-to-face, with yet another new alien. It was bird-like and skinny and hunched, wielding a circular shield that was clipped at the edges on the left and right on its left arm and carried a black, circular weapon with a glowing green tip at one end of it, which happened to be pointing in his general direction; the creature squawked in surprise but didn't have time to fire its weapon since Callixtus decided to greet it by detaching its skull. Irritatingly enough, there were several more of those birds waiting and Callixtus barely had enough time to dive out of the way, growling when green energy washed over his shield.

Pulling out the Crusader I, the Titan made quick work of two of the birds as the Human stuck enough of the crystals into another that the damnable thing actually  _exploded_ into a cloud of pink and blood and guts.

 _Make sure to pick up some of those crystals if you ever find another one of those._ Ghost quipped.  _They'd have a field day with that thing back at the Tower._

 _I am not going to lug around dangerous, explosive crystals._ Callixtus retorted as he and the Human sprinted through the halls and into a large circular room.

The Titan speculated this was the rest of the brig as it went several floors down and up; an island stood at the centre of each floor, held up by three bridges with a beam in the middle of it. He walked into one of the other rooms, easily dispatching the birds and strange, little, grunty creatures with packs as the Human looked through the controls. The cells shut down and four more Humans joined them, grabbing various weapons from the corpses around them.

_Yet you hold an absurd amount of grenades and elementally dangerous weapons._

_I am wholly capable and knowledgeable of the weapons I carry, Ghost, there is a subtle difference that I am not willing to mix up._

The two mentally bickered as he and the Humans ran around the area, gathering more and more Humans that were unfortunate enough to get captured by the violent faction of aliens.

By the time they left the last cell, Callixtus counted at least fifteen Humans with him, varying in size and appearance but all wearing the same armour and seemingly familiar with each other.

 _Alright, area's clear, guess we should look for a way out of here now_. Ghost suggested as Callixtus climbed into the strange elevating beam. Heading straight up and out of the brig, the Titan landed in a huge empty room with only one door leading out of it.

Cautiously approaching it, he watched as it slid open and the sound of gunfire, plasma, and the dying met his ears. Someone was up here. Or maybe it was those jawless Vandals again, they appeared to be against the others and he had run across several of their battles.

But the aliens used plasma-based weapons so the sound of gunfire threw him in a loop. He supposed it also threw him into the attacker; he had walked out into the area, the Humans splitting off to see if they could find an exit elsewhere, powerful in that group of theirs, and taken down several of the bird creatures and Vandals when he turned the corner and ran headlong into a green armored Titan. He stumbled back momentarily before bringing out the Invective and aiming it at the other, gauging the other's reaction.

Apparently the other Titan, who actually didn't look like a Titan whatsoever in Callixtus's opinion, had the same idea and was currently point their own rendition of a shotgun at him, golden, placid visor staring him down to which the Titan returned evenly.

He was unsure how long they would have stared at each other but when saw the familiar shimmer in the air behind the strange Titan, signifying an invisible figure, the Guardian lunged around the soldier just as the other did the same and the pair simultaneously shot down the assassins.

Callixtus peered warily over his shoulder and, once more, met the gaze of the golden visor, nodding in time with the other. A temporary alliance.

 _Who is that?_ Ghost wondered softly.

 _Not a Guardian._ Callixtus reassured as he reloaded the Invective and fell into step with the armoured Human.  _He is familiar though. Do you suppose he was another one lost within the Vault?_

 _A possibility. Wait._ Callixtus paused, prompting the other to turn and stare at him.  _I'm detecting something attempting to integrate into my system. It's not a Ghost but it_ is  _an artificial intelligence._

 _A Warmind then?_ The Titan wondered, frowning as he continued walking, the other falling into step once more next to him.  _What are they trying to do?_

_Gain access to my systems. It's...no wait, **she's** practically throwing  **questions** at me. Her code is originating from that Human's suit. I'll attempt to counteract by integrating with her code._

Callixtus merely grunted in acknowledgement while Ghost's presence disappeared once more as the Titan and the Human engaged with the brutes and its squad of birds and grunt-like creatures. It wasn't difficult and the firefight lasted only several minutes, ending with the Human curb-stomping two of the birds and Callixtus shoulder-charging the lightly armored brute.

 _Alright, I'm back._ Ghost chirped, strangely satisfied and pleased with himself.  _Her name's Cortana, she's, surprisingly enough, not a Warmind but she_  is _an Artificial Intelligence_. _She's an ancient model, however, so it was easy to bypass her encryptions and firewalls...I am beginning to question where we are though. Her models went extinct shortly after the Great Ascension, the time before the Golden Age. We need to get out of here before I draw a conclusion, however._

 _Looks like we are almost there._ Callixtus reassured as they exited the halls and came onto a giant landing that revealed a giant ship in the distance, elegantly designed. Across the landing were spores of some kind along with a strange-looking alien, a bulbous creature sucking at its neck.  _We might be able to get answers from here._

 _I think we just got them._ Ghost whispered, almost as if it were frightened by the sight of the creature, as they approached the alien, the Human kneeling down and ripping the bulb from its neck.  _We all know what that is. The Traveler told stories of them once before. Those...parasites. The Grave Plague._

 _But if the Plague still exists. If it is here..._ The Titan trailed off as he stared at the ship, glaring at its design as the alien spoke, its words meaning nothing to him as he couldn't understand it although its voice was familiar, in the same sing-song-like voice that he heard when he first arrived.

Everything else became faint and muted as Callixtus stared at the spores, at the ship, and at the dying city around them. It hit him as if he were being resurrected for the first time: he was out of breath, disoriented, and frightened. He was where no Guardian should be.

_This is the Great War._

_Even in the past, the Darkness follows us._ Ghost muttered as Callixtus strode forward, nudging a spore cautiously, shivering as he felt the presence of the Darkness casually swim over him before being extinguished by the Light inhabiting his body, before jumping onto the bulb it spawned.  _And t_ _hese are the people who took up the Mantle? Who the Traveler would save? An early type of Human? I..._

 _It is all so disorienting but we cannot possibly be in the past, I am...I am unsure that it is possible, we cannot go by what we see._ Callixtus replied as he stomped on another one of the bulbous creatures, ignoring the conversation the armored Human and his AI were having.  _It explains the language barrier and who knows? But if it is true then maybe we should not mess with it. Did the Traveler tell you a lot about the past?_

 _The Traveler told many stories of the past to the Ghosts,_ the AI replied hesitantly.  _Now I just need to see if they're true._

_Why would the Traveler lie to you in the first place? Although I do wonder what there is to gain from the past._

_Must I really remind you, Guardian?_  You  _are from the past, the majority of the Guardians are._ It scolded, a wave of irritation momentarily flowing through his mind; the emotion, however, eventually died down into a sense of uncertainty.  _I must say though, that I do have my...doubts. Especially about a particular one as he is such an old tale it is more of a legend than anything. It's about the Human who initially upheld the Mantle. I think his name was the Mas-_

The Human called to the Guardian, interrupting the mental conversation he and the Ghost were having, saying something along the lines of, "You're - with me!"

As soon as he said that, a loud shriek pierced the air and the two men watched as an aircraft flew in the wild form of a fireball on to the landing platform several yards away.

From where he stood, Callixtus could see spores crawling over the craft, feeling the Darkness radiate from it as the infected rushed off, shrieking and flailing about.

As the two soldiers approached it, the Human grabbed a silver rod from his hip and activated it; a loud hiss radiated from it and two prongs of light appeared, Arc energy crackling between them. When the first infected came towards them, the Human lunged forward and sliced the monstrosity clean in half, rendering it unusable for the walking spores.

 _I'll tell you later, go help the Human!_ Ghost demanded and Callixtus launched into action without a second thought, once again shoulder-charging into one of the infected and slamming a heavy boot into the chest of another, both beasts collapsing into an unrecognizable heap. Turning, he fired Invective at several of the creatures that began shrieking and charging wildly at the Human, grunting in approval as they fell down in flames and ash.

 _To be honest, I do not think he really needs help._ Callixtus speculated as he fell into step behind the Human, looking over the sage armour curiously.  _Interesting armor though, I will give him that._

_It's subpar as is his skill._

_It is interesting. Stop berating him._

_He can't hear me._

_The Traveler cannot hear me but I do not insult it._

_That's because that's the Traveler._

_I will throw you at the Human._

_Don't._ A low chuckle met the Ghost, low enough so the Human didn't hear it although the hum vibrated throughout Callixtus's body and the Titan could practically feel the Ghost roll its eye. _Also, make sure you're_ _paying attention. You'll do us no good wandering around as if you were a chicken that lost its head._

_As if I was a what that lost its what?_

_It's an old Human saying. Follow the Human._

The Titan simply did as he was told and kept silent as he followed the Human, they went down a hall that was branching down from the main onel, heading for the ship that Ghost and the AI Cortana had pointed out earlier before they had left; as they delved deeper into the lost space city, the spores of the Plague became more evident and so too did the presence of the Darkness. It was a familiar feeling of loneliness and the coldest of the cold; if he concentrated hard enough, he was sure he could hear  _them_. The Hive. The Vex.  _Atheon and Crota._ It burrowed into his mind and whispered words of doubt, lies, and betrayal. Manipulation. Hate. Fury.

But as soon as he tried to think about it, as soon as he tried to concentrate on their damned voices to drive them off, they left in a flurry on their own accord, leaving only faint whispers that also faded back into the spores from whence they came. It was something Callixtus was used, pushing forward as the Darkness swirled and reached out towards him, only to shrink away from the Light in which he was born from, the powerful element snapping at them angrily from within.

The Human didn't appear to be perturbed by the spores, perhaps a bit of disgust appeared but nonetheless, he didn't display anything beyond that.

It seemed that the Darkness didn't reach out to these Humans nor did the Light. There was no influence on his person.

The Human in physical portrayal was a tank in the loose description of Callixtus whenever they came across a horde of infected; he stampeded through the enemies, the Plague and aliens alike, blowing them away with his shotgun or slicing them with his unusual two-pronged Arc blade, occasionally stooping to pick up ammo or a new blade. He carved his way through the river of enemies in a way only Callixtus had seen in his comrades, with grace yet brute force.

Effortlessly, the Guardian had managed to weave his way into the Human's pattern and the two swirled and barged their way through the halls of the once beautiful space city as if they had lived there themselves. A silent hurricane. Unstoppable.

At one point, Callixtus became curious once more and picked up the hilt of the Arc blade that had fallen from the grasp of a dead infected form; he had seen the Human use frequently to cut down the Plague with ease and wondered quietly if he could use it himself in the future.

Swinging the dead hilt, the blade sparked to life, the Arc energy crackling against the prongs and his shield, glowing softly in the dim area, and he couldn't help but stare at it in admiration, even garnering a whistle of approval from Ghost mentally before he sheathed it on his hip. He'd definitely use this later.

They continued on, unchallenged, the infection of the Plague becoming thicker the farther they went into the space city, attacks from both enemies more erratic and panicked. The deeper they delved, the more aggressive the Plague and the aliens got yet both warriors stood against them, unfazed, until they reached a particularly dark, cave-like system absolutely corrupted with the Plague. As he and the Human walked by a particularly huge spore, the Titan felt a wave of fear wash over him.

It wasn't natural so the Guardian assumed this fear was from his mental companion.

 _Ghost? What is wrong?_ He asked softly, taking a calm approach mentally as he brutally kicked in an infected's chest and punched the bulbous spore out of another.

 _The Darkness. The Plague. I can_ hear _them._ The Ghost shuddered.  _Some of these infected are old. Ancient. They're talking to me, they know about the Traveler. Some of them are saying they created it. Seekers. They called the Traveler a Seeker. Whenever they talk, Callixtus, I can see into their minds. They're opening it up to me and I want to look but I'm scared of the answers. By the Traveler, Guardian, please, can we leave?_

 _We are leaving, do not worry._ Callixtus reassured, beginning to inch his way through the fray and to the opposite end of the cave-like structure, trying his best to hurry through the system.

The Human noticed what he was doing and seemed to get his unspoken message and soon joined him, the both of them sweeping the Plague aside as they continued their trek to the ship although the Guardian's sage-armored companion seemed rather reluctant to leave so many enemies alive. If it weren't for his Ghost's troubling dilemma, Callixtus was certain that he, too, would've stayed and made sure every single hostile thing in that area had given the cave a new coat of color that would last a lifetime on the walls if the city could stand for so long.

As they stepped out of the area and into another hallway, Callixtus twitched when he heard the distant shrieking of the Plague, a sound that he knew he would have to get used to soon; it sounded as if it were angry and in pain, having missed its targets and it set Chill's hand trailing down his spine eerily.

He slowed to a jog and watched as the Human dropped his shotgun in favor of a damn rocket launcher. How a Human-made weapon got this deep into the space city was beyond the Guardian - his best guess was that it was dragged along by the Plague - and he was certainly satisfied that the Plague or any opposing faction whatsoever wasn't wielding the deadly weapon.

Despite this set in mind, he eyed the Human warily for a moment as they entered a large chamber where they stepped up to a podium that held one of those fully-charged Arc blade. The Human's visor met Callixtus's and he gestured towards it, an offering - Callixtus assumed - and so the Guardian complied happily, dropping his nearly depleted one in favor of the good-as-new item. With a nod of approval, the Human turned and marched towards what looked like a lift; he stepped onto the pad and paused momentarily, noticing that Callixtus hadn't stepped on yet.

The Titan stood at the podium, searching deep within his mind for the Ghost who had run off. He had barely brushed against the other's presence when he heard the Human call out in a low, gravelly voice that rumbled throughout the area,

"You coming?"

 _Get on the device already, I'm fine._ Ghost snapped, having noticed the Guardian was poking around for him, mentally shoving the Titan forward.

With a shrug, Callixtus stepped onto the lift, wholly surprised when he was suddenly lifted through an orchid tube, multiple floors of the city racing past him as he soared to the top of the landing to where the ship lay.

Landing at the top of the pad, Callixtus looked around at the chaos momentarily before jumping into the fray with the Human as they fought their way to where the conduit stood, leading to the ship with an eerie teal glow.

The Human's AI, Cortana he recalled her name being, stood on a holotank, waiting for them patiently. She called out something but the translator couldn't work quickly enough but her voice was urgent, telling them to hurry up, urging them on. As they went onto the final pad, the Human stopped momentarily, staring at the AI, almost as if he wanted to take her with them but she shook her head, saying,

"I'll be fine, Chief, go! And take this guy with you, he's helpful!" The Human, Chief, nodded obediently, looking over his shoulder at Callixtus, who had joined him on the pad and was watching curiously, before the both of them were lifted into the conduit. They sped at impossible speeds, the world swirling around them as they launched into the ship just as it closed; they slid around momentarily looking for purchase before they crashed into the walls. The Human got up abruptly, staring at the closed door, saying,

"When I'm - with Truth, I'll-" he was cut off and, over the sound of the ship launching, the Guardian heard Cortana say sadly but teasingly,

" _Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it._ " There was a pause as the ship left the space city. " _Good luck, you two._ "

The ship shuddered momentarily and suddenly, the overwhelming presence of the Darkness and the chaos disappeared.

 _We just went through a warpstream._ Ghost reported, his presence filling Callixtus's mind once more.  _I don't know where we're going though._

_Are you okay?_

_Are you kidding? We're never okay._

_Ghost._

_...I looked into it. I couldn't help myself, Guardian, I looked into the Darkness's mind and I saw it._

_Saw_ what _?_

_What the Plague is, what these Humans are, what this damn **ship** is for the Traveler's sake! This ship is of  **Forerunner** make! _

At that new information given, Callixtus jolted upright from where he was sitting, grabbing his Invective with the intent of getting himself off the ship as soon as possible, startling the Human who crouched low, into a defensive position, weapons ready. 

_Wait, no! It's not the Forerunners you think of! It's not the Awoken! We've got them all misinterpreted! You remember the story before the Awoken, the **other** Forerunners?_

_The story about the Ur-Didact and how he went insane, right? He was a child of the Darkness, dragged the Forerunners down with him._

_Yes, that story! When I took a peek into the Darkness's mind, it gave me a glimpse into a distant past, when the Grave Plague began, how the Forerunners became corrupt. Apparently, the Grave Plague was something else, a different species even more powerful than the Forerunners. They were called the Precursors-_

_Atheon's Vex?_

_Yes and no, would you let me continue?!_

_Right, sorry._

_Anyways, these Precursors apparently created the Forerunners and yet regarded Humanity above all else; they were the ones that originally wished for the Humans to uphold the Mantle, to become who we were during the Golden Age. But there was a war between them and the Forerunners and some of these Precursors tried to save themselves by turning into dust._

_What._

_"I know, it's kind of...impulsive? Strange? But before they turned to dust, they created one of their last, greatest inventions: the Seekers. There were thirteen of them overall, created to continuously catalog the expanding Universe. The Traveler was one of them but I'm getting ahead of myself. Over the years, the dust that was, is the Precursors was eventually found by the Darkness. When it touched them, they became corrupt and when they tried to rebuild themselves into what they were, they turned into abominations. The Grave Plague._

_The Darkness corrupted them so badly that, even though they left the Humans alone, they went on to annihilate the Forerunners, believing them to have betrayed the Precursors since they took up the Mantle of Responsibility. The Plague, as revenge and under the influence of the Darkness then spoke to one of these Forerunners: the Ur-Didact. By talking to him, he opened up his mind, left himself vulnerable and soon, the Darkness too touched him. And he lost it. See? That's where we lose sight of the truth; the Ur-Didact wasn't born from the Darkness, he was **influenced** by the Darkness! And because of that, he let the Plague spread and created an army from the minds of Humans and so the Arrays were created, the Arrays that wiped all of life._

_The Mantle was too much; they assumed so much power that they thought themselves untouchable from the Darkness. This is why the Mantle is for the Humans! This is why we're here!"_

_We are here to what?_

_The Humans we work with now, they're pre-Mantle, they're pre-Patriarchs. That Human you're working with? The one staring at you right now because you didn't wait for me to talk,_ _do you know who he is?_

_Am I supposed to know?_

_That's the **Master Chief** , the first upholder of the Mantle of Responsibility and the leader of all Patriarchs. _As the Ghost said this, the ship shuddered and all they could hear was the sound of muted battle from outside, signalling the end of the warpstream and their arrival to wherever the ship was supposed to lead them. The Human, now identified fully as the Master Chief, turned away momentarily, saying,

"This is - one-one-seven. Does anyone hear me, over?" Callixtus watched with his natural curiosity taking over, getting to his feet as he reached for his Invective once more, staring at the entrance of the ship.

The new wave of information was too much to take in at once and now...well, now, he was being thrust into a war that, just a few days ago, was merely stories that the older Guardians told the newly born ones who were naive enough to listen.

"Sir, finishing this fight," the Master Chief replied firmly as the ship shuddered once more, the insides of it suddenly heating up.

 _We're entering the atmosphere, you might want to brace yourself._ Ghost warned.  _Maybe get ready to pop that shield of yours, it might work._

Callixtus grinned underneath his helmet as he holstered his weapon, Void energy crackling around him as he prepared to throw down his protective shield, crouching low as the heat began making his armor burn his skin momentarily.

What's a little crash to a Guardian? Even if he didn't survive, Ghost could simply revive him.

_Traveler's sake, this is **Earth**! I hope you're ready, Guardian!_

He was more than ready. This was his fight now.

A loud roar filled his ears just as he threw down the shield, feeling himself being thrown around inside the Void bubble before his head collided harshly with the side of the ship and once more, he slumped down, vision going dark.

He felt a cool breeze gently lap at him momentarily along with the crackle of fire and the sound of metal popping as it cooled down in the crisp air. Blearily, he looked up, catching a glimpse of stars above him before he went down completely, oblivious to the noise around him and the sage Human next to him, body going lax in the crater they had created.

 _You are destined for a great many things,_ he heard a quiet, gentle, feminine voice murmur, echoing lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Knocked out twice in one chapter, way to go, Callixtus.
> 
> I'll be changing POVs every two chapters but for now, we'll be going into the Master Chief's POV next chapter and I'll be listing the chapters with their names at the end so you don't get lost and I don't mix things up a little.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment, it's appreciated.


	3. To New Allies - Master Chief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Better with a new partner and hallucinations of your AI than infected by the Flood or eaten by the Covenant, the Spartan supposes.

"Looks like our friend has an AI for himself," Cortana had commented.

"Kind of an unusual little guy though. Strange algorithms. Look vaguely...alien, not Covenant alien but so  _basic_ it's actually complex." She had gone silent for a moment as John studied the other soldier; he wasn't a Spartan, his armour was too elegant yet mismatched as if he scrounged them all together from scraps. The shotgun wasn't of any model the Spartan had seen either, elaborate and glowing orange and fired on an automatic setting with fiery shells. He'd never seen any kind of modifications that allowed the shells to ignite into literal flaming rounds. The insignia engraved on either side of the barrel threw him into a loop as well and didn't do any clearing up.

Shortly after his speculation, the Spartan heard the AI speaking once more, her voice carrying a large amount of curiosity and glee,

"This AI was a kind little fella. Says his name is Ghost and that the guy carrying him around is his Guardian. Human. Not much of a talker, told me that much, let me tell him my name and then left.

I think 'disappeared' is a better word though, I can't find him anymore." John had frowned, turning his head to indicate that, yes, the soldier - Guardian - had still been walking next to him so that meant that Cortana could easily detect the other AI.

"I'll do what I can before you guys leave. It's kind of hard though, the second I crack into one of his equations, a new one pops up, more strange and foreign. Whoever made him knows what's up. I love a good challenge." She had been gone for only a few minutes, long enough for John and the Guardian to get engaged in a small bit of combat with two Brutes; as soon as John had crushed his opponent's windpipe, a small whir filled his helmet which turned into a chirp. It had taken John several moments to realize that it wasn't in his helmet but rather in his  _mind_.

 _Get **out**. _ A low voice had growled, it sounded slightly synthesized although it was clearly male, and was interrupted by bouts of chirps and beeps.

"Upset that I cracked your code?" Cortana had asked smugly, clearly proud of herself.

_Not really. I don't want to go through a whole mind-melding ordeal. Last time that happened, both participants died. Get out._

"You're in his  _mind_?"

_Well, aren't you in **his**? Shouldn't seem all that surprising._

A small chirp had sounded as the voice, Ghost, John identified it as now, muttered to itself before turning its attention back to the pair.

_You're curious, I get that, but there's a time and place for everything and right now...it's neither of those. We don't have time for this so if we could get back to the part where we're escaping, my Guardian and I would be **extremely** grateful!_

"Damn, I lost it again! He's a sneaky, tiny thing. He's right though, we do need to get out of here, that dreadnought could launch at any moment and the Flood's spreading a whole lot faster than I'd like.

Well, there's this interesting tidbit of information though, it seems whoever this Guardian and Ghost are, wherever they're from, they've achieved some kind of form of telepathy. It's all so interesting, I wish I could explore further into this! There's an area in this Guardian's brain that's dedicated entirely to housing his AI and other data packets related to it! And- Chief? You still with me? The Spartan had made a grunt of acknowledgement as he bashed in the skulls of several Grunts.

"When you get out of here, could you try interacting with that soldier? Guardian? There's something interesting, curious, about him that we should probably look into and seeing how he's a brute-force, 'I-can-kick-everyone's-skull-in' kinda guy, I think you two would hit it off perfectly. 'sides, I don't think he's a local.

When Ghost came around, I did some poking around and I had the opportunity to sort of.. _peek_ into his head for a few seconds.

Here, I'll upload what I could capture into the data chip since I don't need it for now. View it whenever possible, this guy's kind of  _off_."

"Understood," the Spartan eventually muttered.

* * *

John's wakening was sudden and he found himself staring at a canopy of trees, the sun filtering between the space between the leaves. His eyes flicked over to his right when he registered the out-of-place white armour, identifying the Guardian laying next to him, probably still unconscious; the white-armoured soldier was slumped in a position similar to John except one arm was crossed over his sternum as another lay next to him, limp. He stared at the Guardian, gathering himself for the moment when Johnson's voice broker his reverie,

"We're not leaving him here." The Spartan's eyes flicked over to the Marine's outstretched hand, recognizing Cortana's chip; reaching up, he grabbed the man's wrist and hauled himself to his feet all the while saying,

"Yeah, you're not." Johnson looked stunned for a moment, almost surprised that he was alive, before he frowned up at the taller man.

"Crazy fool," he scolded, punching the Spartan lightly on the chest, "why do you always  _jump_? Some day, you're gonna land on somethin' as stubborn as you are an' I don't do bits an' pieces." There was a moment's pause when Johnson looked over at the Guardian. "Looks like someone already followed you home. Out like a light but he'll live."

John stared at the shorter man momentarily before looking down at his hand which still held the other man's wrist; gently, he pried Cortana's chip from Johnson's grip, studying it momentarily.

"Where is she, Chief?" Johnson asked softly. "Where's Cortana?"

It glowed eerily with that familiar navy-and-cerulean colour and, for a brief moment, the AI flashed across his vision, her voice echoing in his mind,

" _Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it._ " Inserting the chip in the port at the back of his helmet, he looked back at Johnson and answered simply,

"She stayed behind." Johnson looked at him skeptically for a moment before looking at the Marine next to him, gesturing at the Spartan with his cigar, ordering,

"Corporal? Make it quick." The Marine jumped down from John's miniature crater, standing next to the other with a datapad in his hands, tapping into it furiously, saying apologetically,

"Sorry, sir. Your armour's still in partial lockdown; I'll need you to do some simple exercises for me." Standing back from the Spartan, the Marine led him through several looking exercises before tapping more data into his pad before looking at Johnson, clearing him and unlocking the rest of the equipment.

"Alright, kick off the training wheels, corporal, he's ready to go," Johnson said approvingly, puffing out several clouds of smoke. John waited patiently as the Marines discussed quietly, finishing off the reports and planning their next course of action. He twitched, however, when he saw the air shimmer behind the squad, and got ready to lunge at the blurry form when, out of the corner of his eye, the Guardian suddenly darted up from his slumped position, bringing his arm up where a strange relic sat upon it, charging with tremendous, nearly blinding Light.

Johnson threw himself between the Guardian and the invisible Elite that appeared, barking out, "Stop! The Arbiter's with us!" It took several moments to register but the device's glow died out and the Guardian stared uncertainly at the man in front of him as if unsure whether to continue with his attack or not.

"C'mon now," Johnson growled out, "we don't need a wrench thrown into this. Like it or not, we're workin' with the Elites now. Tell your friend to  _stand down_ , Chief!"

Another moment's pause occurred between the trio of super-soldiers until John gruffly ground out, "Stand  _down_ , Guardian."

With a growl, the Guardian lowered his arm, directing a feral snarl at the Arbiter, who returned one of his own before reporting,

"We must go, the Brutes have our scent." Johnson strode forward as the Elite marched away, giving the Guardian a wide berth. The Marine eyed the strange soldier for a moment before grabbing an Assault Rifle from one of his men, saying as he held it out to John,

"Then they must love the smell of badass." He looked over at the Guardian, who already had his mysterious shotgun out, and asked as Johnson organized his squads,

"How'd you survive?" This was met with a mere shrug; if John was anyone else, he'd assume the Guardian was brushing the conversation aside, but as he wasn't 'anyone else' he read it as,  _I wasn't supposed to but I did._

"First squad, you're my scouts. Move out! Nice and quiet," Johnson ordered.

As several Marines ran ahead, Johnson jogged past, eyeing the Guardian warily, giving him the classic  _I'm watching you_  sign before John moved ahead, nudging the Guardian along. He wouldn't admit it but he didn't exactly trust the soldier yet and what Cortana said about him was unnerving as was the brief conversation with the 'Ghost'; it'd be better if the Guardian was in front of him rather than behind.

It was bad enough that he was forced into a sudden truce with the Elites.

As they moved through the foliage, following a small river, John heard the distant whir of an approaching Phantom; he heard his comm. crackle and a scout pointed out with a hiss,

"Sergeant Major, Phantom inbound!" Almost immediately, everyone stopped, hiding behind bushes and rocks.

The Arbiter used his camo module and the Guardian disappeared God-knows-where. They watched as it passed overhead before it disappeared behind the tall trees and they all left their places; the Arbiter reappeared and continued walking, his long strides easily matching the running limbs of the Marines and the Guardian seemingly melted into existence from his place in front of the rocks. Probably some camouflage module he had on his person somewhere, nothing particularly unusual.

The Spartan, Arbiter, and Guardian climbed a small plateau as Johnson and his squad proceeded to climb a miniature waterfall.

Looking at the open clearing in front of them, John noted the excessive amount of Jackals and Grunts running about as well as how it was a Brute Captain leading them instead. It looked like they established the new leadership a whole lot more quickly than the others anticipated, then again, the Grunts and Jackals simply needed leaders and didn't give two shits as to who they followed so long as it involved shooting things that moved and eating said shot things and a majority (if not, all) of the Elites had fled with the Arbiter and his fleets.

Pulling out his magnum, John decided that taking out the Brute was a priority, reminiscing the fact that they tended to get pissed off pretty quickly. He looked over at the squad assembled, noting that they were all waiting for his move. Turning back, he fired a full mag in quick succession, pleased to see that the Brute's helmet popped off rather quickly. It, however, reacted rather quickly, removing the Brute Shot from its back and jumping down from the rock with a roar as the Grunts and Jackals turned, firing in their general direction.

A loud crack filled the air and the Brute  _exploded_ into a ball of _fire_ that washed over several Grunts and Jackals, drawing squeals from the smaller creatures as they were burned. Looking over his shoulder in surprise, the Spartan saw the Guardian wielding a long, steel-and-dark red sniper rifle, the barrel smoking; the Guardian stared at him momentarily before taking out his shotgun once more and jumping down into the chaos. A Marine whistled in appreciation as John jumped after him, remarking,

" _Daamn_ , I'd kill anything for a piece like that." And it continued like that. They'd clear the area and a Phantom would occasionally drop by to give reinforcements for the already dead squad and the Brute would almost always  _explode_ from the power of the Guardian's rifle. He didn't use it often but when he did, it almost always surprised John as he watched his enemy disappear into a violent explosion of fire.

It was shortly after they rescued a Marine that  _she_ appeared again. They had entered a miniature cave system leading to a river that the Arbiter insisted they get to quickly. It was sudden and he blinked, her face momentarily blinding him, and he heard her voice again, echoing inside his mind, and he slowed down to a walk, unsure of what to do.

" _Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? Could you watch me die?_ "

 _No_ , he thought immediately.  _Never_.

"Sir, are you okay?" The Marine asked, looking up at him with a tinge of concern. The Guardian and Arbiter seemed to be watching him carefully as well and he straightened up, the grip on his Battle Rifle tightening, as he replied firmly,

"I'm fine." And he marched ahead, knowing that they weren't, in the slightest bit, even convinced but they followed nonetheless.

" _Chief,_ " Johnson's voice crackled over the comm., " _Pelicans are at the river. Hustle up!_ " As they engaged the Covenant forces attacking the Pelicans, the pilot joined in, explaining,

" _Hold on, got a contact._ " She was silent for a moment before she bellowed, " _Banshees! Fast an' low!_ "

As soon as she said this, the accursed vehicles flew through, their attached Fuel Rods exploding along the engines.  _"I'm hit! Shit!_ "

" _Get a hold of her!_ " Johnson ordered harshly.

" _Negative, we're going down!_ " John watched as the Pelican attempted to fly over the outcropping of rocks, instead, crashing into it and flipping head over tail into a different area, the explosion resounding throughout the entire jungle. After several moments of silence and getting around the abandoned building and heading towards a different end of the jungle, Johnson eventually came through on the comms.,

" _Chief, can you read? My bird's down, half a klick-_ " The rest fizzed out into white noise before clicking off entirely. Entering the jungle once more, the Spartan, Guardian, and Arbiter readily engaged with Jackal Carbine snipers, the rounds merely flicking off of their shields as they gunned them down with ease, the lights on the bird-like creatures' heads marking them rather easily. As they came upon a rock outing, they saw Johnson and the remnants of his squad running across a miniature bridge, followed by several Brutes. The Sergeant Major turned and called out as he primed a grenade,

"C'mon, you dumb apes! You want breakfast? You gotta catch it!" John watched with slight amusement as the grenade managed to kill several of the Brutes and Grunts that attempted to chase after them.

Running around the rocky area to catch up, John realized with irritation that the majority of the Covenant here were Grunts and Jackals attempting to stall them. As they neared the area where Johnson disappeared, a new squad of Covenant appeared led by a Brute Captain. The fight didn't last long, however, as the squad was bombarded with the combining fire of Battle Rifle rounds, Carbine rounds, and fiery shotgun shells.

They arrived at the dam just in time to see a Brute Chieftain kick around Johnson with the Arbiter pointing in that direction as he explained,

"See how they bait their trap? I will help you spring it." John pulled out the Brute Shot he picked up earlier as the Arbiter readied his Energy Sword.

"Let's go beat 'em up!" A new voice chirped and the two soldiers turned to see the Guardian smacking a heavy-looking machine gun which elicited a loud 'Ow!' from it.

"You have an  _AI_ in your weapon?" John deadpanned, receiving a shrug that read,  _It's not mine, I just found it_.

Shaking his head as the Arbiter actually chuckled, the three readied themselves momentarily before jumping as one into the fray below, the Guardian's machine gun shrieking in enjoyment as the Guardian himself activated some kind of controlling jetpack to soften his landing, firing the trilling gun at the Brutes that roared at them incessantly. This seemed to piss them off as the Brute Chieftain hefted its hammer and ran off towards the dam.

Using his jetpack once more, the Guardian effortlessly jumped over the gap in the dam where a bridge once stood and caved in a Brute Captain's chest with his boot, standing on its corpse as he fired his screaming gun once more. As the Guardian flanked them, the Spartan and the Arbiter went through the dam, clearing the area of squealing Grunts and more pissed off Brutes. Just as they cleared the area, they heard a roar and a loud explosion as the Brute Chieftain came into view, clearly even more pissed off than its brethren and wholly intent on crushing both soldiers with its hammer. It was comparably larger than the other Brutes, towering over even the Arbiter, and caused the both of them to continuously backpedal while throwing everything they had on their person at it without getting close it. One hit from that hammer, Spartan or not, they'd be nothing but a blood splatter on the ground.

Loud crackling filled the air, followed by the smell of ozone and the Chieftain stopped in it's charging to turn and watched as the Guardian, swirling with electricity and dark blue energy, jumped several yards into the air before flying down at an angle right onto the Chieftain, the electricity and energy engulfing it with a large explosion.

The energy washed over the Master Chief and he felt himself feeling oddly... _rejuvenated_ as his shields flickered underneath the earth-shattering power. It was raw energy, the purest it would get, and it was like  _nothing_ John had ever felt before. For just a brief moment, he actually felt unstoppable, overflowed with purity and power and sheer strength but just as soon as it entered him, it left in a flurry.

The dam grew quiet as the last of the Covenant squads died and they were left with the Guardian getting up from his low crouch, unholstering his weapon, and casually pointing in the direction that would lead to Johnson.

"What is that Human?" The Arbiter queried suddenly as they walked to the small building Johnson and several other Marines were being kept in. "He has the scent of your species yet it mingles with another. It is pure and holy."

"Or maybe it's all the blood from those bastards he just killed," Johnson retorted snarkily as he got to his feet, waiting patiently for John to deactivate the plasma field. "This isn't as fun as it looks, Chief, cut the power!" As he ran out, he grabbed a Needler, adding, "We're even, as long as we're only counting today."

Hearing the familiar whirs of Phantom dropships, the trio, now a quad, exited the building just in time to see a pair of said dropships letting out several more Covenant squads.

"Kilo-23, what's your ETA?" Johnson demanded, not at all pleased with what he was seeing.

" _Imminent, Sergeant,_ " Kilo replied after a moment's pause. With that settled, the squad ran around the dam once more, making what they could of the weapons surrounding them. At one point, Johnson got the brilliant idea of throwing grenades to destroy a particular Phantom which resulted in the discovery that six plasma grenades and whatever the hell the Guardian threw could actually take down a Phantom if stuck in the right places.

Shortly after their little discovery, the Pelican eventually arrived, taking down two other Phantoms with a barrage of ANVIL-II missiles before settling in front of them to allow them to board. Wordlessly, they all climbed into it, the Pelican dipping momentarily at the new found weight before taking off. The door closed as it flew over the outcropping, head towards an unknown location. From the cockpit, they heard someone say,

" _What's the word, Kilo-23?_ "

"Sierra-117 onboard!" Hocus replied proudly. "Request priority clearance, over?"

"Deck's yours. Come on down. Sorry for the tight squeeze." The Pelican shuddered momentarily, a familiar feeling as it set down on firm ground, before the hatch opened once more and the four soldiers climbed out, the base filled with murmurs and whispers of awe and appreciation.

Johnson and John strode forward as Commander Miranda Keyes descended the stairs, saluting them as she smiled, returning the salute, and asked teasingly,

"Where did you find him?"

"Napping, out back," Johnson replied, his voice filled with a hint of mirth.

"I'll bet." She stepped forward, holding out a hand towards the Spartan. "It's good to see you, Chief."

"Likewise, ma'am," John returned, giving her a firm grip although being careful not to break her hand. She looked as if she were going to say something else but her gaze got caught on the white form of the Guardian, who was standing quietly behind John, looking around the area cautiously.

"Who's that?" The Commander asked, her voice causing the Guardian to snap his head forward, gazing at her intently. The helmet was all angles and sharpness, interrupted by a small circular visor in the center of it that glowed eerily in the center which reflected on her face faintly, making it as if an android were staring at her rather than a man.

"He's with me," John answered firmly. "The Guardian." A small 'hm' met them as Miranda studied the Guardian for several more moments, clearly unsure whether to trust him or not before looking back at the Spartan and then turning away.

"Let's get you up to speed," was all she said, leading them away from the landing pad.

"The Prophet of Truth's ships breached the lunar perimeter - smashed what was left of the home fleet." As they walked down the hall, they were met by two Marines that stepped to the side, saluting them, only to break their bearing and gawk at the Arbiter and Guardian who trailed behind. John made sure they stayed in his peripheral, in case they decided to amount to some kind of attack on them, not wholly trusting of their two new allies just yet.

"Terrestrial casualties from the subsequent bombardment were...extreme." They jumped to the side as two medics rushed through the hall with a groaning Marine on it, the Guardian's gaze lingering for just a bit longer than necessary, as if he were wishing to help before he fell back into step.

"Truth could've landed anywhere, but he committed all his forces here: East Africa - the ruins of New Mombasa. Then they started digging."

"What about Halo?" John eventually asked as they entered a command room of sorts. At the mention of Halo, the Guardian paused momentarily, almost faltering in his steps, as if he knew what they were talking about, just a little more intrigued on what they were talking about, listening carefully, cautiously.

"We stopped it but only momentarily. Now the Prophet of Truth is looking for something called 'the Ark' where he'll be able to fire  _all_  the Halo rings." She paused momentarily, turning to face the Spartan. "If he succeeds...Humanity, the Covenant -  _all_ the sentient beings in the galaxy -" she trailed off, not wanting to finish it.

"The rings will kill us all," John finished gruffly.

"Ma'am?" A Marine called, breaking the somber mood, "I have Lord Hood."

"Patch him through," Keyes ordered. Looking up at the screen above them, the familiar form of the Admiral appearing as he placed his hat on his head, arms crossing behind his back.

"Good news, Commander Keyes?" He asked, looking at the soldiers gathered, his eyes lingering slightly longer than necessary on the Arbiter and the Guardian before settling on the Spartan, evidently pleased to see him there.

"Good as it gets, sir," Keyes replied with a tinge of hope in her voice, looking over the Master Chief.

"So I see. What's your status, son?"

"Green. Sir," John answered quickly.

"Glad to hear it. Commander's come up with a good plan. But without you, I wasn't sure we could pull it off."

"Truth's ships are clustered above the excavation site," Keyes explained as she keyed something on the data pad, activating a map on one of the smaller screens, "and his infantry has deployed anit-aircraft batteries around the perimeter, but if we neutralize one of the batteries - punch a hole through Truth's defenses -"

"I'll initiate a low-level strike. Hit him right where it hurts," Hood supplied before adding, "I only have a handful of ships, Master Chief. It's a big risk but I'm confident-" The Admiral was cut off as the power shut down, the entire place going dark.

The only thing really penetrating the darkness was the glow of the Guardian's helmet and shotgun and the falu emergency lights which bathed the immediate area in a dim, eerie glow. As soon as it went dark, however, something appeared over the Guardian's shoulder, giving light. It was similar to describing a three-dimensional diamond that encased an orb. It was steel and dark blue and occasionally chirped, twirling the triangular pieces that gave it shape.

"Hell, not again!" The Marine grumbled just as Keyes demanded,

"Emergency generators, now!"

"Shielding failed, they're down and charging!"

"As soon as they're up, reestablish contact with Lord Hood. Let him know-" This time Keyes was cut off as the screens suddenly came to life, the Prophet of Truth's face filling the screen.

" _You are, all of you, vermin,_ " he began. " _Cowering in the dirt, thinking what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? **No**. Your world will  **burn** until its surface is but  **glass**. And not even your  **demon** will live to creep - blackened - from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage. The culmination of our journey. For your destruction is the will of the  **gods** : it is known and set for they sent Him as a sign; the Conflux of Time Himself has graced us with His presence and you have wrongfully stolen Him from us, will twist Him against us. But it will not happen, He will prevail and all will bow before Him and His Great Journey for us. Our last breath will be our first in the new life, in the journey, a gift from Him to us. As for I, you may wonder?  **I**   **am** **His**   **instrument**!_ " With that as the conclusion of his speech, the screens shut off as the power returned.

Johnson simply shook his head, cigar having been relit as he grumbled, "Cocky bastard. Just loves to run his mouth."

"Does he usually mention me." John deadpanned, Keyes smirked for a split second before quickly retaining her bearing, looking at the Marine closest to her.

"Give the order, we're closing shop," she ordered.

"Ma'am?" He asked in confusion.

"We're about to get hit. The wounded, we're getting all of them out," she said as she looked at the Chief, heading towards the stairs. She stopped in front of the Guardian, staring at him up and down and then at the little device hovering over his shoulder,

"If you're going to betray us, might as well do it  _now_."

The device and the Guardian looked at each other before the Guardian shrugged, shaking his head as if he didn't know what the hell she was talking about which only elicited a scowl and narrowed eyes from the Commander before she continued walking up the stairs.

"Ma'am, the squad leaders are requesting a rally point - where should they go?" Keyes turned back while readying her magnum, saying simply,

"To war."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Crow's Nest is next. The Aegis Relic is a thing. Plus, new arsenal. Slight edits have gone down and I think I like hw this one is turning out.
> 
> We'll still be in the Chief's POV for the next chapter.
> 
> For those of you who still follow me on ff.net, I'll be updating with VII soon so be on the lookout for that.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	4. Through and Through - Master Chief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's really prone to blowing things up, he realizes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added a little more to the end because jumping to the next mission seemed like I was rushing. Also, I wanted the Chief and Callixtus to interact a little more than they are now.

Despite Miranda telling everyone to move out, John couldn't help but take several moments to look over at the Guardian. Truth's message ended up a little more than vaguely  _disturbing_ , to be frank, the Spartan was used to the dramatic speeches, heard them performed by a multitude of Marines and ODSTs; on any other day, he'd have brushed it off as the Covenant tuning up on their arrogance but then Truth mentioned the Guardian - albeit a bit indirectly - called him a god to their people, someone to worship.

Did the UNSC really have a Forerunner on their hands? If they did then the Guardian would be a priority, someone that they'd have to constantly be on watch for; should the Covenant get their hands on him then it'd all be over. John wasn't sure whether to doubt the proclamation of Truth for once; the Guardian had raised endless questions that were simply brushed to the side with muttered promises to be answered later.

"Ma'am, our perimeter cameras just went offline," a tech reported worriedly. John looked up from where he was studying the Guardian's arm, having been inspecting the strange device that sat on it; it ran on some unusual technology, it was smooth and white and silver - it was shaped in a perfect square - and refused to be removed. It hummed quietly with the same sort of energy that seemed to radiate off the Guardian; two prongs protruded from the horizontal ends of the device, curving outward slightly as blue energy leaked off it.

"Motion trackers?" Keyes questioned, turning to face the reporting technician.

"They're down or we're not receiving, can't tell."

"Any of our birds squawking?"

"No, ma'am," a different tech replied. "Wait. Overwatch has contacts. Phantoms closing in on our position!"

"Any birds less than five minutes out, bring them in. Tell everyone else to scatter."

"Aye, aye." John jogged towards the miniature armory they had set up, the Guardian following behind languidly as Johnson announced that he and the Arbiter would be guarding the ops center. As he gathered magazines for the Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle he picked off the racks, a Marine ran up next to him, offering to lead the way to the perimeter, explaining more or less to those around him about the brief history of the Crow's Nest.

As they passed through the simplistic cave system integrated in the building, he heard the familiar voice of Gunnery Sergeant Stacker ordering around several Marines to set up turrets. A loud rumble followed by an explosion made him take pause, watching as small bits and pieces of rock and dust fell from above before yelling into the comm.,

" _Point of entry, best assessment!_ " Two Marines guarding another door answered immediately,

"Hanger, Sergeant!"

" _Agreed. Master Chief! Get there!_ " With no need for further orders or encouragement, the Spartan nodded, opening the door, and swiftly making his way down the hall towards a large tunnel where he arrived just in time to see a Warthog get bombarded by several plasma grenades. He didn't even flinch when it exploded into a fiery blue ball; there'd certainly be no survivours on that one.

" _Chief?_ " Keyes' voice crackled through on a rather shaky channel. " _Good, this channel is secure. My fireteams are spread thin and can't hold out much longer. I need that hangar cleared for evac ASAP._ "

"Yes, ma'am," the Spartan rumbled as he rolled out into the tunnel, pinging several Grunts and Jackals before taking them down with several well-placed rounds from his Battle Rifle. The Guardian sprang forward, glowing shotgun in hand, and set to work on taking down the shielded Jackals, watching in amusement as they went down in shrieking, burning flames. A well thrown grenade finished off a group of retreating Grunts, blasting some supply crates out of the way and onto some of their skulls and even knocking the helmet off of the approaching Brute Captain. The Marines following broke into a fit of laughter as they emptied their Assault Rifles on the unsuspecting Covenant hostile, quickly ending its life.

Turning down a different hall, the squad was met with Jackal Carbine snipers and suicidal Grunts, using the Grunts to their leverage, the short firefight ended in a wonderful, continuous explosion of blue. As they passed by the corpses, the two Marines took it as a good time to stop and waste several rounds on the body of a Grunt before giving it a good kick; as they did this, John watched as the Guardian stooped to pick up several plasma grenades, studying them curiously before they disappeared in a flash of silver. The Spartan had seen this happen often, most obviously when the Guardian was finished using his AI machine gun; John had since figured out that this was probably how the Guardian managed to store so many weapons on his person. He  _was_ rather curious as to how it worked.

Hearing the familiar whir of a Phantom dropship's engines, John assumed that he had reached the hangar, satisfied to see that he was indeed correct just as the heard Phantom appeared, releasing the common squad of Grunts and Jackals, led by a mere Brute Minor. It wasn't all difficult, simply waiting for them on the platform, picking off the ones that didn't dive into cover immediately. The Covenant, however, were known to not give up so easily and just as they finished mopping up the rest of the Grunts, two more Phantoms appeared to drop off reinforcements, this time, the squad of Grunts and Jackals, several Minors and a Major.

Tossing out the remaining grenades he had, John rushed forward to engage the Major, leaving the Marines and Guardian to clean up the rest. The Major put his focus wholly on John, firing his Brute Shot wildly, only having a few actually hit the Spartan and bring his shields down to a quarter. Diving behind a concrete barricade, the Spartan watched the shield bar fill up before peering over the barricade, bullets pinging off the Major's helmet, noticeably denting it. Roaring in anger, the Major threw a Spike Grenade in retaliation - only to have the damned thing to stick to the  _front_ of the barricade, eliciting a brief chuckle of amusement from the Spartan as he shot up once more, knocking the helmet off the Brute and finishing it off with a clean shot to the head.

The Guardian joined him moments later, reloading his shotgun calmly. Having seen the small standoff, he pointed at the barricade, specifically at the few spikes sticking out of it, tilting his head as if to say,  _What the hell was that._

John merely shrugged while tilting in his head in a similar manner; the Guardian let something that sounded like a scoff escape from him, one of the first noises John had heard from him yet.

They watched for several moments as the Marines assumed control of the hangar, calling out several Pelicans to prep for evac.

" _Chief,_ " Johnson's voice crackled over the active comm. link, " _hustle back to the ops center. The Brutes are pushin' here._ "

John 'hm'ed in response, going back the way he came with the Guardian trailing behind. As they walked through the halls, they heard Keyes ordering for sit-reps from multiple areas around the base. They had made it through the majority of the halls without trouble, entering the area where the small cave system was when a Marine called out,

"Sir, this way!"

The Spartan was about to enter the structure when he saw something fall from the ceiling; frowning, he was about to call out his speculation when a Drone flew in from above and grabbed the Marine, ready to fly away with him if it were for the Spartan's quick reflexes. Immediately, he brought up his Battle Rifle, gunning down the giant bug just as the rest of the swarm entered. As he ran outside of the bunker-like area, dodging the green bolts of plasma, he grabbed a turret and ripped it off its tripod as he heard the familiar yell of the AI machine gun the Guardian wielded. Back-to-back, the Spartan and the Guardian made quick, serious work of the swarm, satisfied that it didn't take much effort to get rid of them. Several of the bugs had attempted to pick up stray Marines, only to get hit by a barrage of bullets from his pissed-off allies.

The firefight couldn't have lasted more than three minutes. John dropped the depleted turret as the Guardian dispersed the AI machine gun (which disappeared with a chirpy farewell and a flash of blue and white) and the two of them proceeded to enter the ops center, a Marine greeting them by cheerfully saying,

"Here comes the cavalry!"

Above them, they heard Johnson making a passing remark about a bomb as Keyes warned him about his cigar. Walking up the stairs, they watched as Johnson put out his trusted cigar, John looking up at Miranda who had apparently made it back to the  _Forward Unto Dawn_ , her features displayed on the same screen Hood was on earlier.

" _Ah, Chief,_ " she greeted as the two soldiers stepped down, inspecting the device set in front of them, " _look, a little going away gift for the Covenant. We've linked it to smaller charges around the base. Johnson, as soon as the evacuation is complete, set the timer._ "

"Understood," the Sergeant Major replied with a nod.

" _Good luck, everyone. See you on the last Pelican out,_ " with that said, she cut the comms., her face disappearing.

"Follow me, you two," Johnson said, turning and running around the two giant soldiers, leading them towards a different doorway where several Marines were standing, ready for whatever came through. Stopping in front of it, he turned and relayed the situation, "Brutes have taken the barracks with Marines trapped inside. Those apes ain't one for mercy, Chief, we both know what they do to prisoners." The Spartan nodded solemnly before stepping forward, unlocking the door and stepping through, the Guardian followed closely.

"Get to those barracks and save those men, escort them to the landing pad for evac!" Johnson said as a final order before the doors were shut. Looking at the area in front of them, John analyzed and saw that the entire squad consisted of Brutes ranging from Majors to a single Chieftain that stood haughtily at the top of the hill-like garage. They hadn't noticed the arrival of the two soldiers just yet so the two got into position; John looked over at the Guardian, satisfied that he seemed to get the same idea as he was, having taken out his unusual, explosion-prone sniper rifle.

After moving the unfortunate body of a Marine, the Guardian settled himself behind a barricade, rifle set up. John watched as he lined up his initial shot with a Brute Major surrounded by several Stalkers. Good, take out as many as he could on the first bullet.

John lunged forward, throwing a plasma grenade and successfully sticking the Brute Chieftain, although it wouldn't kill it, the grenade would, at least, severely weaken it. At the same time the plasma grenade exploded, the Brute Major disappeared into a cloud of fiery energy, taking the Stalkers with it. Looking over at the simplistic destruction made, John saw that the Brutes slowly dissipated, at first, faintly outlined by the embers before slowly turning into it and disappearing entirely, leaving small trails of ash.

That would be something questioned later. He stored it in the back of his mind for later conversations as he rolled to the left, just barely dodging the Chieftain's hammer. The ape roared, changing direction at the last minute which caused it to soar just over the Spartan's head, giving an opening and allowing him to launch himself at the creature's abdomen, tackling it and rolling down the stairs, their weapons lost. Occasionally, bullets would pierce its body as they wrestled, trying to get the upper hand, the Guardian maintaining his distance, attempting to snipe out the remaining Brutes trying to intervene. One such bullet pinged off the Brute's helmet, knocking it off, and eliciting another angered roar from it.

A shout alerted John and he looked up, if only momentarily, to see the Guardian jumping into the air, bringing the device up front and charging it before releasing a giant ball of energy that shot towards the wrestling pair.

Giving an uppercut to the jaw, John wrested himself free from the stunned Brute's grip, and rolled out of the way just as the energy crashed into the Brute Chieftain with a loud boom. The Brute Chieftain all but disappeared from existence, the only proof that it was ever there was the hammer it had dropped which John took the time to pick up as the Guardian approached him. They gave each other passing nods while checking over their respective weapons.

Wordlessly, they continued on, going through a side door into yet another hallway. Heading towards a set of rocks blocking the way, they spotted a trapdoor in the ground and what looked like a Marine who attempted to crawl to it. Without hesitation, they jumped through; just as they landed into what was probably the underground sewer system connected to the base, John saw Her again.

She filled his vision, flickering in and out of view, and he paused at the entrance, waiting for Her voice to fill his mind again.

" _You have been called upon to **serve**._ " They were simple words but he knew where they were from, originally, they came from Halsey, his surrogate mother. She had said these exact words the night he and his brethren were taken from their homes, to begin training.

As he gathered himself, he felt the Guardian's gaze on him but he didn't meet it, instead, he forged ahead, catching a glimpse of a Drone flying through the pipes. He ignored them, however, figuring they weren't exactly worth any of his bullets or time, climbing through the pipes just in time to hear the Arbiter. He listened as he landed behind the Elite, watching as he fired upon several Drones, attempting to get to them to rebel, to see their wrongs. It didn't work however, as they died before the Arbiter could continue, even though they didn't appear to show signs of listening.

Facing the two soldiers, the Arbiter explained, "Spartan, the Brutes have taken your soldiers...as prisoners or meat for their bellies, I do not know. In case some yet live, let us prepare for what lies ahead." Looking over John's head and at the Guardian, he nodded in greeting towards him, receiving one in return as the shotgun that John had become accustomed to seeing reappeared.

John opened the door into what appeared to be the barracks just in time to see a Marine's body fly into a pillar, ultimately killing the man and joining him with the other pile of bodies that lay below him. The Spartan grimaced, his dislike for the Brutes growing as he readied the hammer he had taken, turning the corner, he saw a Minor jogging towards another of his comrade, a Marine in its claws. As the Arbiter and Guardian lay waste to the others around him, the Spartan ran at the Minor holding the Marine, swinging the hammer and feeling satisfaction wash over him as it made contact, a resounding boom filling the area as the Brute's head became a blood pulp, the Marine jumping free from the scathing grip. He ran off, grabbing a Spiker from the ground and joined the other two in finishing off the other Brutes and freeing his friends.

The Spartan climbed up the ladder to take care of the Jackals and Brutes providing returning fire from above, making quick work of them with the blade of the hammer. It sliced neatly through a Major's neck, the head rolling from the catwalk and landing on the Guardian was passing by below. Confused, he looked at the head which continued to roll to the other side of the tunnel before looking up and seeing John with the headless Brute. He waved, giving a thumbs up, before going back to his bloody work. John turned towards the front, watching as the Brute Ultra set down a Bubble Shield, the bullets reflecting off it with ease; the Spartan lurched forward, sprinting inside the Bubble and priming a plasma grenade and sticking it to the device itself. Dazing the Ultra by hitting it with the handle of the hammer, John rolled back out and turned back just in time to see the grenade go off, taking the dome and Brute with it.

"Neat idea, Chief!" A Marine called out as the others around him cheered, running alongside the three soldiers. They continued further into the barracks, rescuing more and more Marines, enough to harness an entire platoon before reaching the other end of the tunnel. Leading them out, they reached a service elevator (thank God or whatever was listening, they could fit everyone on there) and were soon heading up to the landing pad.

As they went up, they heard Johnson report, " _Commander, we lost the ops center. Brutes had attacked in force. Couldn't hold 'em off. Goin' back to the hangar. Don't wait for us._ "

" _Hold position, I'm not leaving without you!_ " Keyes ordered.

" _Ma'am,_ " the Pelican's pilot began, John recognized as Hocus, " _I've got movement above **and** below. Ah, damn! The Brutes have jetpacks!_" John looked over at the Guardian and remarked dryly,

"Sounds like your kind of people."

The Guardian stared at the ceiling and John could practically  _feel_ the man roll his eyes. As the elevator stopped, they all rushed out, intent on destroying the jetpack Brutes; the Guardian rolled forward before launching himself from the ground, his own pack lifting him to meet a Brute in the air. Surprisingly, he managed to  _punch_ the Brute out of the air, the creature howling as it crashed with the ground, only to be silenced when the mysterious soldier landed on it with his boot on its neck, the snap audible. He lifted himself into the air once more, joining the fray through aerial hand-to-hand combat with the relentless Brutes. Many of the jetpack jumpers went down either riddled with bullets, in flames, or disappeared altogether thanks to the Guardian's mysterious powers. The ones that disappeared seemed to become energy, strengthening the Guardian's shields which glowed a bright violet colour with every passing hit.

As soon as John signaled the all clear, Hocus appeared, returning to the landing pad to have the Marines climb aboard. However, just as the Marines climbed on, they heard the familiar sound of Drones. Johnson pointed this out, offering to provide covering fire as they made their way back to the ops center once more.

" _Brutes in the ops center,_ " Johnson explained. " _Sorry, Commander, there were too many, even for me._ "

" _Chief, kill those Brutes and rearm the bomb, I've got to get these men out of here. I'll radio for another exit, good luck,_ " Keyes answered, receiving a 'yes, ma'am' from the Spartan. As they headed towards the hall leading to the ops center, John felt Her presence once more, again, Her face flickering in and out from his vision.

" _You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies,_ " She explained proudly and he frowned, that wasn't Her words...they belong to Halsey on the night that he was taken for the program. He remembered it vividly, it was a life-changer for him.

Once again, he felt the gaze of the Guardian on him but he didn't dare to speak up, letting the super-soldier lead on. Entering the ops center as quietly as they could muster with that ridiculous heavy door squeaking, they listened as the Chieftain proudly reported the overtaking of the base. Truth, however, didn't sound pleased, whatsoever, demanding information as to how the UNSC was planning to stop them, ordering them to learn as fast as they could lest they be forgotten on their "Great Journey".

Walking forward, they spotted several Grunts, two Ultras, a Minor on a plasma turret, and a Chieftain standing by the bomb. John managed to stick both of the Ultras with plasma grenades as the Guardian shot down the Brute Minor with a Battle Rifle he picked off the rack. He dropped it as soon as the Brute was killed however, favouring his fiery shotgun above all else apparently. As they finished mopping up the Grunts, all three soldiers scattered just as the Chieftain shot multiple bolts of fuel rod power at them, striking where they were standing moments earlier. It was under the combined power of lead, plasma, and fire as well as grenades and the occasional opposing hammer, courtesy of John, (and dodging a helluva lot) that brought down the hulking creature, the both of them having suffered the loss of shields at the worst.

Quickly, John raced down the stairs, activating the bomb as soon as he could reach it, receiving a call of approval from Keyes.

" _Chief, we've got an escape route for you! Service elevator in the hangar, get there!_ " Johnson ordered, the pair quickly complying and bursting into a dead sprint as they heard explosions echo around them. " _Head downstairs, cut through the caves!_ "

As alarms blared, they sprinted through the caves and halls and bypassed cowering Grunts and confused Drones, neither side paying attention to the other as they attempted to save their own lives. Passing through one particular hall, She appeared once more and John grinded to a halt, disoriented. However, as She flickered across his helm once more, the Guardian grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him along, not taking any of this shit right now.

" _There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead._ " Why was She taking to quoting Doctor Halsey? Granted, She was a flash clone of the doctor's brain but- She had never done such until now...

As his vision cleared, he began running again, taking the Guardian's hand off his wrist, ignoring the explosions rocking the base, shaking the ground. They watched as a hoard of Grunts, followed by a swarm of Drones, ran by them through the tunnels before running around and through them, trampling and throwing some of them out of their way. The explosions and the lights flickering made the little creatures even more erratic than usual.

Once more, as they slid into the hangar, She appeared, Her eyes meeting his but giving no indication that She acknowledged his presence and the Guardian continued to drag him along, shooting down any Jackals or Brutes that happened to get in their way.

" _You will be the best we can make you._ " And once again, John wrested himself from the Guardian's iron grip, making it known that he was wholly capable of running once more.

" _There isn't much time left, you two, so stop makin' out and get into that elevator!_ " Johnson barked from the comms., prompting the two soldiers to move even faster. They leapt over a squad of Jackals and slid into the elevators, the Guardian shooting down any Covenant that attempted to board with them as the Spartan keyed the controls. The gates closed and soon they were heading down, fire from the explosion licking at their shields.

" _This place will become your home,_ " She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, the blue flashing across his field of vision again. The explosion became more violent as the fire chased after them, the elevator racing down at improbable speeds, the fire tore down their shields and he felt the heat just as the lift exploded onto the ground, banging their heads together and leaving them unconscious. Before he fully went out, he heard Her say darkly,

" _This place will become your tomb._ "

* * *

John came around, responding to the sound of someone shifting next to him, rock and concrete falling off them as they got up and soon, a small whistle sounded. Blinking up at the remnants of the elevator shaft, the Spartan watched for a moment as the Guardian stood, his strange little diamond AI hovering calmly over his shoulder, giving light. The Guardian looked around for a moment before stooping to pick up his trusted shotgun, the orange designs along its body glowing softly, mingling with the orchid light coming from his helmet and the soft blue glow of the device attached to his left forearm.

After several moments, the Spartan moved, getting to his feet himself. The Guardian turned at the sound, holding out a hand to help him up which John took gratefully, his back was sore after that hard landing.

Looking around once more, the Guardian looked in the rubble once more before withdrawing with an Assault Rifle and a Battle Rifle in his hands, holding them out for the other. Taking them, John looked to make sure they were in working condition, nodding in thanks towards the other soldier before walking away from the ruined elevator towards where he could hear Marines talking amongst themselves.

" _Chief, please respond,_ " Keyes called out over the comms., " _what's your status, over?_ "

Keying the comm., the super-soldier replied smoothly,

"Green, ma'am. The Guardian is with me as well."

" _Good to hear. Find transport and head to the town of Voi._ "

"Yes, ma'am." John walked over to a more clear part of the enclosed tunnel, watching as emergency lights powered up, revealing three working Warthogs in place. He climbed into the driver's seat of the nearest one, looking at the white form of the Guardian and said, "Guardian! Get on the turret!"

The soldier stared at the turret before slowly climbing on as if unsure of what to make of the device, the little AI over his shoulder chirping and whistling along as it twirled the triangular pieces, almost as if it were appreciating the vehicle. As he drove the vehicle out of its lot, Stacker called out,

"Chief's got the right idea. Let's mount up, get the hell out of these caves."

The Spartan waited patiently as the Marines gathered themselves, one taking it upon himself to open the doors leading to a large cave system. Seeing the light filtering through the entrance, the Warthogs sped up, running over any and all Jackals and Grunts that attempted to stand in their way. Breaking out into the sunlight, they let their eyes adjust for a moment before seeing that they were in a large field, bypassing multiple towers the Covenant had set up and splattering even more on their way up the hill. The Spartan heard the familiar chatter of the chain gun being fired, removing any other lingering threats that could actually make them pause in their efforts to get to Voi, the largest threats being Jackal snipers, plasma turrets, and raging Brutes. There were the occasional Grunts throwing grenades but, as always, their throws fell short and they were easily avoided.

As the small squad of Warthogs went through several pathways in the hills, they came across a small clearing and rand headlong into a Phantom and several turrets. John just barely dodged several bolts from the two weapons, going completely around the plateau that the turret was on and letting the Phantom do its business as the other Warthogs followed him. Followed by the sound of the Guardian shooting, an explosion sounded as well, signaling that he took  _something_ down. Exiting the valley, a gruff voice came over the comms.,

" _My convoy's been hit, I need back up. We're on Tsavo Highway 'bout...east of Voi. Someone! Anyone! Please respond!_ "

"Sounds like they're in trouble, Chief," the Marine sitting next to him remarked, receiving a nod in agreement as they came across the settlement that the troubled Marine had marked. Running over several Brutes and Grunts, the Master Chief jumped out of the Warthog, letting the Guardian's turret face off with the Choppers.

Just barely avoiding the angered swing of a Minor, John returned a punch of his own and caved the Brute's skull in. Turning away from the falling body, he raised his Battle Rifle, firing the three-burst weapon to get several Grunts off of a struggling Marine's tail before taking cover as a grenade was thrown his way. When he removed himself from the building, he watched as his Warthog sped by, the Guardian still on the back with the other Marine driving, whooping as they flew by, chased by several Choppers. Watching the last one fly by, John latched onto it at the last second, holding onto the back as he punched the Brute off before climbing in and assuming direct control of the vehicle. With combined fire from the Guardian in front and John in the back, the group of Choppers were reduced to scrap metal as they were chased around the settlement.

As the firefight settled down, the few Marines on foot sweeping up the last of the Grunts and Jackals, the Marine driving John's Warthog came back, jumping out with wide eyes, exclaiming,

"Damn! That was the first time I ever drove that thing! Whoo! I wanna do that again soon; if we ever find more of these 'Hogs, I'm callin' dibs on one of them!" John rolled his eyes with a small 'hmph' as he climbed back into the driver's seat, directing the 'Hog and his squad over to a tunnel where it was blocked off by a giant plasma barrier.

"Chief," a Marine called out, recognizing Stacker's voice, "the barriers only work against vehicles; you should be able to pass right through on foot."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, no way is that going to work," another Marine piped up as the Spartan got down, passing through the barrier with ease, and gunning down several Minors that were waiting inside. Hearing Truth's voice, he looked over his shoulder and saw a hologram recording preaching something about the "Great Journey", walking over to it, he stared at the alien momentarily before destroying the hologram. How about  _no_.

After that, he repeatedly punched the barrier's generator, pleased to watch it exploded, his shields brushing it off, and the barrier disappearing.

"That is so fucking  _stupid_ ," the same Marine observed, the others guffawing at the flaw.

Driving on, they went through another cave-tunnel system before coming upon the actual highway. A loud crack filled the air and a Covenant flagship passed over head, heading towards the excavation site where a small storm was building up; a recon team began reporting in but they were broken up by the sudden arrival of the ship, the comms. being temporarily scrambled.

" _Say again, recon? You're breaking up,_ " Keyes ordered.

" _Something beneath the crater, ma'am. Something beneath the storm,_ " the recon team reported cryptically.

Coming across a set of barricades that blocked off the broken bridge, the Marines lamented leaving the Warthogs but climbed out nonetheless. Approaching the bridge, they saw that one of the sturdier beams, although bent and partially melted (long since cooled down), they would be able to walk across it with ease. John and the Guardian traipsed across it easily, patiently awaiting for the others to join them before continuing down along the highway.

" _Master Chief?_ " Keyes came back through the comms., sighing in relief, " _Finally, a good connection. Truth has excavated a Forerunner artifact. Have to assume it's the Ark._ "

" _Keep pushin' to the town of Voi, Chief,_ " Johnson inputted. " _The supply birds will meet you in the next valley._ "

"That means more 'Hogs, right?" A Marine asked hopefully, receiving a shrug. They arrived at a settlement just a little off the highway, stopping to assist in two Marines trying to take on an Ultra before moving to the buildings that were being bombarded with Fuel Rods. Luckily there were three more Marines inside, upping the numbers from ten to thirteen, deciding to stay at the settlement to wipe out the remaining forces, sticking to long range. At first, it was all clear when the Major dropped but then a Marine climbed onto one of the buildings to look out and yelled,

"Wraith!  _Incoming!_ " As soon as he said this, the bright blue ball of plasma wiped him from existence as it crashed onto the roof of the building. The giant, arch-based tank soon floated into view with a Brute in its turret, meaning that it'd be difficult to get in close and hijack it. Picking up the Fuel Rod as the others got into cover back inside the buildings, he grabbed the remaining rods, intent on covering it in the green gas. The Guardian stood at his side, a white and gold ornate rocket launcher sat on his shoulder as he patiently waited for the Wraith to get into view.

Was there a single type of weapon this soldier  _didn't_ have?

It didn't matter, the more firepower to take this thing down, the better. Dodging the next two plasma mortars from the Wraith, they simultaneously fired their weapons, the green rods lazily flying towards the Wraith compared to the speeding rocket that was the Guardian's. The Wraith was encased in a green cloud, the Brute in the turret dying after several barrages of the green stuff as the rockets crashed into the hull, splitting open and spilling out small blue cluster bombs that swarmed the Wraith, seeming to have some kind of locking target that made it seek the vehicle out. Several rounds of Fuel Rods and rockets, plus wild gunfire from the Marines, later, and the Wraith was left sputtering and smoking before exploding, leaving it a mangled, melting, metal mess.

As expected, two Pelicans appeared both carrying a Warthog which elicited whoops of excitement from the Marines as they rushed to meet it at the bottom of the hill. Climbing into one, John waited patiently as the other Marines got situated before continuing forward, dodging two Choppers and running over several Grunts and Jackals. Per usual.

They passed through a small alcove before coming upon another part of the highway, guarded by two Choppers which were made quick of, the Marine driving the other Warthog deciding his solution being to slam the vehicle into the Brute, exploding the damned thing as the Spartan allowed the Guardian to conventionally let loose on the other Chopper.

Flying off the broken bridge and into the valley below, the two Warthogs followed a beaten path, letting the turrets take care of the chasing Choppers as they avoided the Wraiths that threatened to make due with their vehicles. Successfully bypassing the Wraiths without any losses, they continued down the highway just in time to hear Johnson say,

" _Chief, the gate to Voi is just dead ahead! Smash that Brute blockade!_ "

"With pleasure," John rumbled as the Marines cackled behind him, rushing headlong into the bluish-purple barricades, ultimately destroying all that got in their path. The Chief followed languidly, the Guardian and Marine next to him mopping up what the other Warthog left behind such as the jetpack troops and everything else.

"I'm so glad I'm not with those nutcases," the Marine grumbled as she threw a grenade on to the floating platform that passed by, chuckling when it exploded. "It's a miracle they're not dead yet."

" _Gotta seize the moment, Lacivi!_ " One of the other Marines howled over the comms., explosions sounding ahead of them. Arriving at the gates of Voi, they spotted the other Warthog driving in a figure-8 near a downed Pelican, the plasma barrier that was there already down. They watched at a distance for a moment as the wild Marines miraculously gunned down several Covenant with pin-point accuracy before driving down the hill to join them, gunning down whatever they repeatedly missed.

After finishing off a plasma turret that wouldn't let up, John signaled the all-clear and two Pelicans arrived, one piloted by Commander Keyes herself. John exited the Warthog, followed by the Guardian, as Keyes conversed with someone inside the cockpit.

" _Marines,_ " John recognized Lord Hood and listened with rapt attention, " _the Prophet of Truth doesn't know it yet but he's about to get kicked right off his throne. You will take our city back and drive our enemy into the grave they have been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains._ "

John looked at the distance where New Mombasa once stood, watching as another flagship passed by, heading towards the dig site where he saw a structure similar to the Forerunner dreadnought standing. Looking in his peripheral, he saw the Guardian staring at it was well although he gave off a vibe that said he was off-world rather than taking in what was in front of him.

The Spartan turned to face him, catching his attention and the other soldier did the same. Wordlessly, John held out a hand, visor meeting visor.

The Guardian, without hesitation, clasped the Spartan's hand with his own, shaking it firmly.

They waited patiently for the Pelicans to drop off reinforcements, watching the distance closely. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the Guardian fiddled with the device on his arm, seemingly trying to remove it.

"Need assistance?" John asked gruffly and the Guardian reluctantly held out his arm, letting the Spartan inspect it. John had thought that the clasp was full of perhaps guts or blood or something that need scraping out, something may have gotten jammed.

No, something that John learned right off the bat of the Guardian is that nothing is ever going to be simplistic around him. Ever again.

The device seemed to have melded with his armor, maybe even with his flesh because when John tugged at it lightly, the Guardian hissed and drew his arm back protectively. It wasn't going to get off any time soon.

As the Pelicans dropped off reinforcements and Warthogs to take through the tunnels, the two soldiers walked over and claimed one for their own, getting into their designated spots, waiting for the rest of the regiment to move out. 

Driving through the tunnels and looking over at the turret to make sure that the Guardian hadn't decided to abandon them suddenly, John came to a sudden conclusion about the mysterious man that he picked up from High Charity.

_A broken god among broken men._


	5. Sense Reassertion - Callixtus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What the fuck is going on, the Titan wonders.

Callixtus didn't know  _exactly_ what he'd been doing for the past several hours; despite what had happened, he could consider it a normal day - should he be back in his timeline - which ranged from getting berated at an alien the Humans called the "Prophet of Truth" to blowing up a base to escaping from said blown up base and killing aliens with a mounted turret on the back of a truck. He was standing on the mentioned truck, travelling through a dim tunnel towards a warehouse; it was quiet, the soldiers murmuring among themselves as the vehicles - Warthogs, he recalled - stopped at the warehouse, the Master Chief stepping out from where he was sitting as the soldiers gathered around the door. Others positioned the vehicles as close as they could without running over their comrades.

The Titan stepped down from the turret when the Master Chief faced him, giving him a faint 'get-down-here' gesture, and stood rigidly at the super-human's side, Invective at the ready.

He watched as the Human activated the doors and slipped through them before they finished opening, going up a set of stairs and peering down the railing and below to see several of the more weaker aliens wandering about, seemingly listening to the hologram that displayed a sermon of the so-called Prophet. He vaguely remembered Ghost informing him that it was called a 'San 'Shyuum', a race of aliens that was practically extinct with no intent of repopulating and kept well away from their solar system.

Looking over his shoulder, he remained crouched as the Master Chief keyed another set of controls that allowed the Humans to slip through and unleash their bulleted glory upon the smaller creatures. Another door opened and they ran through, blasting down the shielded creatures set back only momentarily when the ape creature tried to climb into an unusual purple vehicle.

Two more of the dark orchid, slightly bulbous vehicles sat off to the right; Callixtus stared at it, unsure if it had some kind of auto-pilot or if he should get on. He watched curiously when the Master Chief easily slipped into the seat of one of them, the vehicle automatically activating, hovering above the ground as a faint hum joined in with the soft rumble of the Warthogs' engines. Callixtus hesitantly approached the last one sitting quietly next to the Chief; slowly climbing on, he got one of the few surprises of his life when the vehicle suddenly began hovering in the air, it bobbed and dipped momentarily, a little more sensitive than a Sparrow and he glared at it as if it personally offended him before he gained control. It was nothing like a Sparrow in build per se but it would compensate, he supposed, as he guided it out of the warehouse and towards a small field, following the Master Chief, idly aware of the Warthogs that cruised alongside him. They split off when several of the mortar-based tanks started attacking them, Callixtus getting the feel of simultaneously driving and shooting at the same time, doing his best to not stray too far from the Humans in case they ended up driving off once more. He maneuvered deftly around several other vehicles, watching as the plasma washed over the metal, eventually melting the casing and creating a bright blue-and-white explosion that crackled over his Arc shields when he got too close.

Driving up the ramp and towards another warehouse, Callixtus barely tossed the mangled tank a sparing glance as he made his way inside, jumping down from the vehicle in time to blast away several of the beady-eyed birds and squat whiners.

Looking up the stairs, he spotted a group of apes, the majority of them heavily armored, one of them reminiscent to those that wielded the hammer and the green plasma cannon. Without a single thought, the Titan charged towards them, delivering a powerful shoulder-charge into the gold ape, caving in the armour but not killing it, a well-placed fiery shotgun shell finished it off. Delivering a powerful backhand with the relic to the metallic aegean ape, Callixtus turned to face the heavily-armoured one only to hear a loud shriek pierce the air momentarily before bright light filled his vision; the Titan stumbled back in surprise, his back hitting a wall as he threw his arm over his face, throwing a wild lightning grenade, feeling the crackle of its energy and the occasional pulse as the electricity whipped furiously at the surrounding enemies. The relic responded violently to the blinding device, powering up and shrieking with the device along with several howls met that met his sensitive ears - the smell of burning flesh filled the air as the light eventually faded away, revealing two dead apes and a singed one.

The Titan reached for his Invective, shaking his relic arm when the device's shrieking died down, ready to take the creature head-on when a barrage of bullets and a well-placed blow to the head grounded it once and for all.

Blinking rapidly to get rid of the afterimages of the flare and attempting to calm the already quieting relic, Callixtus nodded towards the Master Chief who simply crouched to pick up spare clips of ammo before exiting the room, marching over to an ammo crate and picking up a rocket launcher and the Human-rendition of a pulse rifle.

As the Humans gathered what supplies they could scavenge, loud buzzing filled the air followed by the appearance of the oversized bugs Callixtus recalled encountering in the caves; several made some grabs at the smaller Humans and the buzzards seemed to be clever enough to give the Master Chief and Callixtus a wide berth, primarily concentrating on taking out the weaker Humans that accompanied them. They didn't deem any real issue and they were quickly mopped up, the Humans having not suffered any casualties to the bugs.

Soon, they made their way through the tunnels, coming across a set of seemingly smaller versions of the Warthogs; when the Guardian nudged the super-soldier and pointed at the small vehicles curiously, all the Master Chief grunted was, "Mongoose." and got on, prompting the other to take out his Gjallarhorn - he sent a silent prayer to the Guardians who made up the rocket launcher - and jump onto the back, holding on to the small latch it had. They had only gotten several feet forward when the Master Chief seemingly froze, his head lowering slightly, his body tense as if he were waiting for Callixtus to stab him in the back - or worse.

Callixtus recalled seeing this happen to the Human several times, twice when they were escaping from the crumbling base, having dragged him along; by then, the Guardian was used to it and waited patiently for the moment to pass. He didn't know what it was nor was he going to ask as the soldier constantly shot him looks that silently asked him not to pry, despite his silent promise, the Guardian received reports from his Ghost that some sort of mental phenomena was happening, causing the Chief's vitals to spike insanely before he went back to whatever he was doing as if nothing happened. Callixtus was intensely intrigued, perhaps even slightly worried, but didn't feel it was a subject to break a promise on for as soon as it had begun, the Master Chief was back in action and they were rolling out.

Blinking in the momentary sunlight, Callixtus found the squad in yet another field similar to the last yet it had more open space and the structure to the left consisted of a simple lift and catwalks connected to it. They drove out into the open fields, coming across two anti-air oriented tanks, a dull crimson in color with two cannons on each side, a plasma turret mounted below it being controlled by one of the apes; the Warthogs and Mongooses drove nimbly around them, distracting them from the sky although several were chased off by the rough, bulbous, single-pilot vehicles that defended it and soon they delved into chaos.

Callixtus focused on one of the anti-aerial tanks, drawing it's attention away from the skies and onto the small, deft vehicle that taunted it; the tank didn't stand a chance against the power of a Gjallarhorn - as soon as the rocket detonated with its initial explosion, the smaller swarm that spawned from it overwhelmed the tank, melting its plating and erupting violently, melting the hull and rending the tank useless. In a late defense, several of the violet, triangular, swift vehicles were dropped by a dark blue dropship but the aliens in it were weak and didn't stand a chance, going down almost immediately as soon as they hit the earth.

When the last AA tank was destroyed, the soldiers idly drove around before pausing, the sound of aerial combat faint in the distance. Callixtus tilted his head slightly as the soldiers began staring at the sky, he didn't like the feeling he was getting one bit.

Something was coming, something uncomfortably  _large_.

It came from the sky with the sound of a whining Praetorian and crawled over the facility as if it were a giant arachnid; purple in colour with four spindly limbs and a curved body, a turret was mounted on the top, and its front glowed a deadly looking green, reminding Callixtus of the Hive. It stomped on one of the Warthogs, the explosion barely rocking the metallic beast as it strode forward, looking around at the small prey scuttling around its feet; it dipped low for a moment as the green front glowed brightly, aiming towards Callixtus and the Master Chief. Just as the violent stream of green plasma shot out, the Master Chief veered away from it, the beam rocking the ground beneath them and nearly sent the vehicle tumbling forward.

"The legs!" The Master Chief barked, barely dodging the large plasma bolts raining from above. The words were all the prompting the Titan needed as the Mongoose made a tight turn, facing the behemoth once more which was concentrating on one of the few Warthogs remaining.

Training the rocket on to the aforementioned target, Callixtus observed in the split-second it took to aim and fire the guided explosive that the armor on the legs seemed relatively  _loose_ in the simplest terms and it was no surprise yet a surprise when the small rocket burst, creating the small seeking explosives, and the plating fell off once several more rockets from the soldiers bombarded it. What  _was_ an actual surprise was that the metallic arachnid crouched even lower as it shook violently, a loud siren echoing around them; what it was doing, only Callixtus could guess although the top cannon still seemed to be functional, shooting at whatever moved within it's sight.

The Master Chief guided the Mongoose beneath the four-legged tank and jumped off, climbing onto a low platform that extended into it's belly. Callixtus jumped off, grabbing for his Invective as he jumped onto the mechanical creature as well, following the super-soldier. Several weak aliens stood in their way, easily taken care of with either a brutal, skull-caving punch or a well-placed grenade, knocking them off and into the traffic of Warthogs and Mongooses below.

Climbing up the beast and into a particular room that the aliens seemed adamant on guarding, they found a shield in the wall; easily, the Master Chief tore it down, revealing the controls beneath it and four pipes leading into it. Upon closer inspection, however, Callixtus realised that the pipes were actually  _flesh_ , some type of  _wyrm_  that pulsed with every shudder and plasma bolt. The beast was metal  _and_ flesh. It was  _alive._

As soon as they shot it apart, the entire beast became shaking even more erratically and Callixtus heard a soldier yell in the distance, "Get away! It's gonna blow!"

Easily, the pair jumped out of the belly of the beast as explosions rocked the synthetic-organic, jumping into a Warthog that drove up to them. Callixtus twisted around in time to hear the beast scream before exploding into a blaze of blue-and-white plasma, the body vaporising, leaving nothing but the legs as they thundered to the ground with a loud crash, bits and pieces of metal (and maybe even flesh) raining down upon them as the soldier drove the two to the facility.

Climbing down, they walked over to the catwalk and went back inside the facility once more, receiving several compliments and cheers of approval, the Master Chief stopping for several moments to pick up ammo from the crates, reloading his weapons with fresh clips. He made the notion that he was going to move on but froze once more, staring straight ahead as he lowered his weapons.

 _See? There go his vitals again._  Ghost's sudden presence nearly made Callixtus jump but he merely tensed, waiting calmly for the Chief to regain his bearing as he always does in these moments.  _Still can't pinpoint what's doing it, although it seems like it's happening more often. Interesting._

 _Where have you been?_ Callixtus snapped, slightly irritated that his little light wasn't there to give him pointers and, quietly, slightly missing the snarky comments the tiny AI made whenever he was out fighting.

_Analyzing everything. Especially those tanks you encountered. That big one you came across, the one with the four legs, I like that one. I can give you the data once I've reached a comfortable conclusion. Sorry for not holding your hand, Guardian._

Callixtus mentally snapped at the Ghost who simply let out a warm laugh and disappeared again, their conversation, although feeling like it lasted for a good deal, having only lasted for several seconds, and soon the two men were making their way through the facility once more. As they made their way through the halls, Callixtus heard the vibrating baritone of the jawless Vandal he recalled fighting alongside with momentarily. The Arbiter, that was what he was called. An interesting but capable fighter. The Titan also recalled the Humans calling his species 'Elites'.

"There was honour in our Covenant once," the Arbiter was saying, holding two plasma weapons in his clawed hands, "and there shall be again."

Nods of greeting were swapped and the trio was soon making their way into another area of the facility, an even bigger warehouse where a multitude of shipment containers were being held. Apes of varying ranks seemed to be scattered around the area, leaping about the containers and catwalks as if they owned the building, occasionally firing their spiked weapons to keep the Humans at bay. Their confidence seemed to disappear momentarily at the appearance of the three hulking soldiers but they soon roared challenges towards them, hurdling grenades and spikes alike at them.

Callixtus and the Master Chief charged forward as the Arbiter hung back, delivering plasma fire before launching towards the apes as well; it was as if an ocean wave crashed into a bay of rocks, corpses of the apes rocketed into the air, the weakly armoured aliens standing no chance against two shotguns, plasma weapons, and outraged soldiers. The rocks tried to move but the wave only pushed harder, step by step, death by death, they swarmed through the warehouse, for the single moment as the firefight continued, they felt powerful and unstoppable.

At one point, Callixtus watched from the corner of his eye, the Master Chief punched  _through_ one of the weak-armoured apes and tore out it's  _spine_. The ape fell down with a pained howl, actually  _sobbing_ , before it began choking, the blood welling up as it writhed on the ground, stomped on by the merciless soldiers and ignored by its brethren, dying alone and in excruciating pain.

Weaving through the civilian workers that surrounded the area, the trio made it to the other side of the warehouse, unaware of the bloody corpse trail they left in their wake, neither did they care of it. It was work and it was work well done.

Heading towards the other entrance, the doors lifted up and several more civilian workers stumbled through, flailing and tripping over each other as they screamed incoherently, something about a pair of large 'Hunters' making their way into the warehouse. They didn't get much in as a large beam of green plasma appeared from outside and blew up several fusion coils scattered around the room, taking the civilians with them. There were cries of anguish from those behind the trio and shouts of outrage from the soldiers that had followed after them. Two azure armored beings entered the room, reminiscent of a Phalanx to Callixtus somewhat, not in shape or species but rather in how they held themselves.  _Behind a shield._  Spikes protruded from the armor and they were hunched forward when they stood in place, revealing orange-pink flesh exposed in the back, flesh similar to what Callixtus saw in the synthetic-organic beast.

Although the green cannons were a new concept as were the species of the alien as a whole, Callixtus knew just about every single bit of how to counteract and act against a Phalanx. They were cowards who hid behind the safety of a flawed shield and he knew just  _exactly_ how to destroy that safety.

He put some distance between himself and the soldiers, making sure that the Phalanxes didn't notice him before sliding behind the one farthest from the Humans, unloading several flaming shells on to its exposed back before planting a lightning grenade in case it didn't die from the fire. It howled in pain as Callixtus got to his feet, attempting to sprint away from it; however, he only put several yards between him and the Phalanx before it swung its arm over it's head and towards the offender, the shield reaching farther than the Titan expected - it hit his shoulder and he flew back, slamming into a set of containers, his vision going white for several moments as pain exploded on the impacted shoulder. He watched hazily as the lightning grenade finished the Phalanx off, setting the second one howling as well, seemingly mournful and enraged at the other's defeat, making it more erratic and wild.

 _Guardian_ _?_ Ghost's presence came forward once more, panic filling his mind before it left and he saw the little diamond-like AI appear in front of him, one 'eye' flickering and pieces twirling worriedly, ignorant of the battle behind it. "Callixtus? Hey, come on, you've suffered worse than this! Get up!"

Callixtus slurred a series of curses in retaliation, grabbing his Invective as he pushed himself to his feet, distantly hearing and feeling the rumbling crash of the second dead Phalanx; he stumbled forward several feet before reaching up to grab at his shoulder. His hand came away with white, glowing fluid and he stared at it as if trying to process what it was, he blinked, confused for a moment before it dawned on him.

Of course, Guardians bled Light - they just didn't bleed often.

He was vaguely aware of Ghost flying around his head, taking in several scans as the Master Chief and the Arbiter jogged over to him. Callixtus shook his head rapidly to try and clear it of the haze that filled his mind but only succeeded in making himself dizzy and swayed slightly, his arms held out to balance himself; the Master Chief's hand shot out to steady him although his eyes were set on Ghost who was scanning the gash on Callixtus's shoulder.

"Thank the Traveler, it didn't hit your bone or arteries. Just a gash," the Ghost explained, the familiar blue light flashing over the wound, sealing it slightly. "It'd be better if it healed naturally, we shouldn't use rez right now - not with your neural network in it's ridiculous condition. I did what I can and it's gonna leave an ugly scar but I think your only worries now are that it'll leave your skin exposed and you now have a giant flashlight on your shoulder. I also gave you a stimulant so you don't pass out." The Ghost flew back, floating just in front of the Master Chief, and flickered it's eye at Callixtus disapprovingly.

"Please don't do that again, Guardian, you've been reckless lately; I understand that suicide and resurrection is the preferred tactic but your neural network is a mess right now, I don't want to risk losing you permanently," the Ghost stated quietly, worryingly, before dipping forward and disappearing back into Callixtus's mind. The trio was silent for a moment, the Master Chief and the Arbiter staring at Callixtus who avoided their gazes, rolling his shoulder and hissing at the soreness that was there before he crouched to pick up his Invective once more.

The Arbiter stepped forward, almost reaching out as if to touch Callixtus's wound but merely settled with a gesture towards it, remarking softly, "You are a strange one indeed, Guardian. You are Human yet you are not and your companion-" he trailed off for a moment as they continued walking before finishing haltingly, "-an unusual pair but compatible. I only hope that you side with us because you also see through the Prophet's lies and seek the truth. Perhaps, this once, the Prophet truly speaks the truth - that you are one of the Gods."

They continued on in silence, their previous rage from their rampage now faded away, and they swept through their enemies like a silent hurricane. Still, nothing hindered them, working together to take down the simplest enemy to the hammer-wielding, crazed ape that swung at them. The power of the hammer pounded and vibrated into the ground yet they stood, unshaken, and dodged, danced, weaved around the creature, exchanging bullets and violent strikes yet they didn't voice a victory or signs of satisfaction when the ape fell with a gurgle. Wordlessly, the Master Chief picked up the hammer, hefting it with ease as the other two continued on, clearing a straight path of grunts and the squawking, shielded birds. The path lead from the facility to a barren hill, the only thing occupying it was a squad of heavily armored apes and a powerful, plasma-based anti-aerial weapon that occasionally shot at the human vehicles inhabiting the sky. Callixtus noticed that only one shot made it into the air before it had to cooldown for around eight seconds and then it could fire a bolt once more.

At the base of the hill stood several more squads of the squat, grunty creatures, scattered around. Callixtus and Arbiter distracted them with ease, Callixtus swapping the exotic Invective for his sniper rifle and then immediately picking out Bad Juju to replace the exotic, the simple burst-shot weapon allowing the Titan for more accuracy.

All was going well, he and the Arbiter easing their way up the hill as the Master Chief sprinted by, hammer in hand, occasionally disrupting the air with a loud, vibrating boom before disappearing over onto the top of the hill.

Callixtus was caught by surprise when he shot the head clean off of one of the squat creatures and a loud  _pop_! filled the air followed by a burst of colourful paper; the Titan stared at the little bits of paper for a split-second before turning back to the remainder of the enemies, letting out a confused noise as he tried to comprehend what just happened. The Arbiter simply chuckled, explaining,

"Quite the surprise, yes, but they are sporadic. Do not expect them often."

As they climbed to the top of the hill, they watched as the Master Chief smashed an ape's hand against the wall with the hammer, making the creature howl in pain as it's appendages were smashed between the rock and golden weapon it wielded; it snarled and snapped at the armoured Human but only succeeded in getting it's head smashed into the wall next to it's hands, creating a bloody pulp that splashed against the Chief's sage armour. The super-soldier dropped the hammer and picked up the golden weapon, turning to face the bottom of the aerial turret to which the Titan and Arbiter did the same, patiently waiting for the giant weapon to overheat. As soon as it fired the next plasma bolt, the bottom of the weapon folded away to let a large, white orb fall out, surrounded by smoke and steam, cooling down in the crisp air that surrounded it; when the orb appeared, immediately, it was barraged by green plasma, regular plasma, and kinetic rounds, Callixtus figuring that the eight-second window was enough time to destroy the turret.

They watched appreciatively as the orb exploded, bringing the rest of the weapon with it, purple-blue flames being all that remained of it as they turned away to gaze at the excavation site in the distance. Multiple longswords appeared from the distance, flying to the device the enemy had uncovered as several more flagships appeared in the distance behind them, flying towards it with hurried speed, firing at the device. However, just as they flew towards it, the ground below the device dipped down as several prongs lifted up and the device disappeared into the ground, bright light appearing as it activated. A pillar of blue energy streamed from the disappearing tool growing in size as it gathered power, the prongs lifting up and forming a contemporary wall around it. The energy seemed to have some kind of magnetic well, pulling in all ships near it ranging from the longswords - which disappeared without a trace - to the flagships, both Human and alien alike. As the pillar let out a burst of power, the trio of soldiers were thrown against a set of boulders, the immense power knocking all of them out.

Callixtus's shoulder flared in pain and the Aegis relic activated once more, creating a shield that surrounded the three soldiers, the Light responding to the pillar of energy, and he faintly remembered his own voice crying out in response before he slumped over, unconscious.

* * *

The Titan's shoulder and arm pulsed with a numb kind of pain as he slowly came to himself once more.

Shaking his head to clear of the oncoming headache, he got to his knees, breathing in deeply before pushing himself to his feet, leaning against the boulder to steady himself. Looking around, he saw the Master Chief also get to his feet and that the Arbiter stood several feet away, staring at the sky; looking up, he saw a giant, lapis gate in the atmosphere, the prongs in the ground seemingly stabilising it as the device launched towards it.

 _A Timegate?_  The words flashed across his mind, filling him with a tinge of hope before he sullenly realized that, no, it wasn't a Timegate. The Vex's work consisted of a sliver of Dark influence and reeked of Time itself, this gate didn't leak of both but it seemed that his entire being and the relic responded accordingly to it, the visible Light pulsing gently along with the gate.

Watching as the device entered the gate, Callixtus hissed and wrapped his arms around himself when the Light burned, casting a soft glow around him when his shoulder pulsed; the relic flared as well, creating a temporary shield before dying down to periodic pulses. So, these were connected to this gate then. The Titan didn't recall being told of this area back on his Earth by the Speaker nor the Vanguards; then again, he was stationed in the far Northern area of the planet, perhaps the Guardians stationed in the South had some idea of what it was.

He watched as the alien flagships entered the gate and bit his lip so hard, he tasted more Light spilling from his wound. It  _burned_  in a way that it felt so  _pure_ ; he didn't imagine such a thing to be so  _painful_. The more that entered, the brighter the wound got, and the more it burned, and soon, the Titan nearly keeled over with a gasp, vaguely aware of the Master Chief facing him sharply and the Arbiter roaring at the flagships. Whatever was in that gate was connected to his Light.

 _Ghost...?_  Callixtus reached out mentally for the little light and was almost immediately given a response.

_Looks like that device is Forerunner make. Has traces of Light. Might be a source that has an influence of you. It looks like it seems to be pieces of the gate that are in you are trying to get out. Scanning. Wait. Ah, I see, the traces of Light inside the gate is **Void** energy, it uses the fabrics of time and space in order to reach its destination. The Void in the gate is reaching out to you - trying to integrate you into the system. I'll see what else I can learn about it._

As the last ship entered the gate, the burn and glow began to die away and the Titan found himself on his needs, blinking away tears of pain. Looking up, he saw the Master Chief crouched in front of him, seemingly unsure of what to do but looking over the Guardian to make sure he was still breathing.

Slowly, Callixtus unwrapped his arms from around his middle, the Light on the relic and his shoulder dying down to small, faint pulses once more, and the Master Chief gave a slight nod as if in approval and stood, offering a hand to which Callixtus took gratefully, being hauled to his feet.

Turning their gaze back to the gate, a small boom sounded in the distance and the trio of soldiers looked to their left to see a warpstream open and another flagship fly out. However, this one was smoking and veered sharply towards the facility as if specifically targeting them. They took out their weapons, ready for whatever dropped from it, watching as it began to pass.

Once more, the Light reacted - it began  _humming_ quietly, pulsing once more as the ship passed overhead and Callixtus could feel waves of Darkness rolling off it in waves, the ship dropping off the reeking smell of rotting, infected flesh. Whispers filled his mind as they turned to watch it crash in the shipyard they were in simply an hour earlier. Turning to face where it crashed, they stared down the hill, Callixtus and the Master Chief knowing  _exactly_ what they were going to be facing.

"What is it?" The Arbiter asked, seemingly hesitant. "More Covenant?"

"Worse," the Master Chief answered simply. They descended from the hill, backtracking their way through the facility. As they passed through the packaging area, Callixtus couldn't help but notice the sudden multitude of bodies, having been unaware of them as he rarely, if ever, went back to the same place twice in the same day. When he did go back, the bodies were gone; only now was it registering just how bloody and ruthless Humans and Guardians were.

Screams filled the air and the three soldiers were on high alert, snapping their weapons toward the roofs when two infected forms leaped from the containers. They watched as they bounded away, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention.

When they approached the main gate, they saw that it was locked down and sealed, the only way being through a small office to the right. A small group of soldiers stood around the gate and they all jumped when a scream followed by the deathly shriek of the infected filled the air. Spores rained down from above, some latching onto surprised soldiers and immediately burrowing into their chests. Callixtus scowled at their pained screams, blasting one poor Human away before the spores could finish growing on his already mangled body as infected forms jumped down from the roofs above.

More spores appeared from behind in a sort of ambush shortly followed by a set of infected as the soldiers were herded into a tight perimeter behind Callixtus, the Master Chief, and the Arbiter. Despite being a rather simple enemy to beat in terms of combat, the Grave Plague's supplies never ceased to exist seeing as they stood right in front of it, practically handing themselves on a silver platter. The only advantage the organics had was the ability to deplete the deceased organics and to protect themselves from the spores.

Whenever the Plague neared Callixtus, he nearly shuddered at the Darkness that rolled off them; it was  _ancient_  and  _raw_ , a feeling that he'd never felt even when he delved deep into the Hellmouth and the Vault of Glass. What he faced now was like a  _pure_ form of the Darkness. The Light responded accordingly, pulsing and flashing, driving away any of the Plague that got too close but, as useful as it seemed like, his body  _ached_. He felt as if he'd fall apart at any point and whenever the Plague actually  _touched_ him, the Light seared him and the creature with an intense amount of pain, he was surprised he was still standing. The Plague, however, wasn't better off: the Light actually burned the infected creatures, making their flesh  _boil_  and  _bubble_ and sometimes, if they lingered long enough, it  _popped_ , rendering limbs or entire carcasses  _useless_.

As they moved forward into the warehouse once more, Callixtus rolled his shoulder, the Light leaking down his arm for a moment as the wound reopened from what little healing it was given. The Light was caught in a groove in the gauntlet and Callixtus paid it no attention, only thinking to himself that he needed to get it fixed and  _soon_.

After saving a Human from being mauled and infected by a small herd of the spores, the trio stepped into the warehouse once more in time to see a small group of cornered soldiers doing their damnedest to fight off the infected. They poured in from all directions: behind containers, ceilings, gaps, walls, anywhere where an entrance allowed the Plague to squeeze through. The Master Chief pressed forward to go behind the soldiers' barricade and acted as a last defensive measure so that nothing got past him as Callixtus and the Arbiter went out and stomped out any corpses lying around, taking care of any infected that got too close.

The Plague, although weak, was nimble and leapt anywhere to which they could find purchase. Most of them found refuge on top of containers, well away from the shotguns the Humans favored, but found fault in it when sniped out by the Arbiter's carbine or Bad Juju. Some hid  _inside_ the containers and prompted either Callixtus or the Arbiter to duck inside and get bombarded by an overwhelming amount of infected or spores.

Luckily, no soldiers were lost to the Plague this time.

Making their way through the warehouse, they came upon the other entrance, seeing a soldier using a flamethrower before the infected managed to sneak up behind him and take him out. As soon as the soldier died, the Plague focused their attention on the newcomers, heading mainly towards the Humans, seeing them as the evidently weaker prey. Callixtus managed to shoulder-charge one of the infected apes away from a soldier, the Light burning into the pilot spore, eliciting a loud shriek from the Plague and a hiss of pain from the Titan.

Distantly, he heard the Arbiter taunt, "I am willing to kill you! Again and again!" as he blasted apart nearing infected and stopped on the rotting corpses of intact vessels. They had only lost one soldier to the infected, the Human having strayed a little too far from the tightly packed group. A lesson hopefully learned by the others as they stayed huddled, moving forward only after the Master Chief signaled so.

Making their way across the catwalk, the Master Chief signaled for the soldiers to stay where they were to wait for evac before they jumped through a hole in the floor in the next room. Callixtus just barely missed landing on the Master Chief's head as he had suddenly paused in what he was doing, entering what Callixtus had taken to calling his 'phenomena state'. Once more, he patiently waited for the moment to pass, shrugging when the Arbiter queried as to what was occurring.

And then, suddenly, the Master Chief was back. He pressed forward as if nothing had happened and Callixtus fell smoothly back into place, Bad Juju and Murmur ready for whatever was around the corner.

What they came across was a Human surrounded by partially infected corpses; he was sobbing, a magnum placed to his temple, and he blubbered on, explaining about what happened to his squad, his comrades, his friends. The Master Chief knelt before the man, not saying a word, but gently pried the magnum from his hands, evidently having dealt with people like this before, the man not once protesting; the super-soldier turned the safety on and dropped the magazine from the weapon before placing it on the ground before the Human then getting up and walking away.

"You would leave your comrade defenseless?" The Arbiter questioned in disbelief, he and Callixtus following him outside.

"He's not defenseless, I only disarmed him," the Master Chief answered simply. "I've seen their type before; he chooses how it ends." It was cryptic and cold and the Arbiter didn't appear satisfied with the answer but didn't pay the Human any more attention as more flagships appeared into the atmosphere. At first, Callixtus tensed but then saw the way his allies reacted and watched as pods fell from the ships, landing in the small piece of land ahead. Elites burst from the pod, shooting their plasma weapons at the approaching Plague.

After watching for several tense seconds, they moved and descended the ramp, joining up with the aliens as they finished mopping up the corpses. They greeted the Arbiter and Master Chief, giving Callixtus a lingering, wary glance before offering the move ahead and assist with clearing the area out. The Elites exchanged words about their fleets, hearing that this Covenant had smashed through them, making them turn from hundreds to lingering numbers. It was unnerving but Callixtus recalled that the odds were about the same in his timeline, the Light's inhabitants lingering in the low thousands.

They forged ahead, looking up at the gate which seemed closer than it appeared. Staring long enough into it was chilling and Callixtus was nearly grateful when the Plague attacked, making him focus his attention elsewhere.

_If you gaze long enough into the Abyss-_

Idle words for an idle mind. Certainly a dangerous thing. He pushed the thought into the back of his mind and focused on dismembering the rotting corpses of the Plague as he simultaneously shot down a number of flailing infected, satisfied to watch them go down in a burning, shrieking, withering mess.

Walking up the ramp, Callixtus flinched when a human infected jumped down in front of him and pelted his shields with plasma bolts. Oh,  _fantastic_ , they were wielding weapons now.

Tearing out the small spore, he scowled when he popped the damned thing, the corpse crunching underneath his boot as he shot down an infected ape that had been wielding a curved, crude version of a grenade launcher of some type. He leapt back in surprise when a swollen body came up to him and practically threw itself at him, swelling up to at least  _three_ times it's size before exploding, releasing little spores everywhere. They were quickly mopped up, having spent several seconds scurrying around, crawling over useless body parts.  _Those_ were new, he speculated, and needed to have a close eye on them.

Entering one of the smaller warehouses and tunnels, the squadron waded their way through the muck and grime of the Plague, wiping out anything that got in their way. It seemed like the Plague was throwing everything it had at them, determined to keep them away from their goal. Callixtus got shot at several times although they were simply reflected from his shields and he retaliated by rendering their bodies useless. Their progress was swift and merciless, once more, driving their enemy back, step by step, in a hurricane of fire, bullets, and brute strength; with the additional assistance from the Elites added, they were damn near unstoppable, tearing through the Plague as if they were paper.

Entering the second shipyard, Callixtus spotted the flagship crashed where the field was before turning his attention to the sound of bones breaking and flesh ripping. A behemoth of an infected rose up from the ground, towering over all, swinging it's thick, meaty limbs wildly at them. As intimidating as it was, however, the flesh was still weak and although it bore well to several clips of ammo, it couldn't bear them all, and crashed to the ground with a thunderous cry and vibrated the ground as more infected showed up.

"The Construct," the Arbiter suddenly uttered. "She is within the ship."

Construct? Cortana, mayhaps? Callixtus looked over at the ship, subconsciously rubbing his shoulder as the Light pulsed, the glow steadily getting brighter in response to the heavy presence of the Darkness. He recalled her being on the space city; she couldn't have transferred herself to a flagship, could she?

 _I'm getting a signal from inside the ship._ Ghost announced suddenly, apparently having heard the news as well.  _It's very faint but I can detect it. Could be her._

 _Thank you for your input._  Callixtus muttered as he kicked away a spore before turning and shooting at the chest of an infected Human.  _What are the chances of it being her?_

_Likely. Not very high but there's a good chance. I'm unsure of how the AIs here work but she could have possibly transferred her data to a portable pad. I've heard of AIs with the capability of being able to travel from network to network and she's considered one of the most advanced. Perhaps._

_Hm. Very well. Thank you._

_Any time, Guardian._  As the Ghost disappeared to do Traveler-knows-what, Callixtus watched as another heavyset infected appeared, combated by the Master Chief who bombarded it with a heavy chaingun he happened to be carrying. Distracted with that, Callixtus focused on the little things, shooting at infected that attempted to run, chasing the spores, and causing premature decomposition on mounds of corpses being grounded by the Elites and the Arbiter.

Throwing a lightning grenade into a particularly large crowd of the Plague, Callixtus listened in satisfaction when he heard the familiar pulses of the grenade followed by the chain of lightning and the smell - although retching - of burning flesh filling the air once more. More shrieks of indignation filled the air and more infected arrived, the Elites roaring challenges towards them in return as they greeted the oncoming Plague with powerful strikes and precision shooting. Callixtus joined the fray effortlessly, twisting and turning and leaping about as he switched between his flame-Murmur and Bad Juju, his Ghost occasionally supplying him with ammunition packs.

Stepping onto the flesh of the ship, the Arbiter announced that he and his Elites would be remaining the surface to make sure that the Plague didn't leave the facility, leaving the Titan and Master Chief to delve into the ship alone. Better to be safe than sorry, if that's how the saying went, the Guardian mused as they ran along the length of the ship, stepping in the occasional spore.

The presence of the Darkness was ancient and powerful as if it were one of its sources; Callixtus supposed he shouldn't be shocked if it did turn out to be but he was learning new things by the hour so why the fuck not? The past was a strange place so might as well make it a little stranger and more confusing. History was fascinating after all.

Reaching the top of the ship, they stared down into a Plague-made entrance before jumping down it, the flesh of the Plague softening their landing as they made their way through fleshy tunnels. Despite the filters, Callixtus could still smell the scent of rotten flesh, sickness, and poison in the area; he knew he'd never get used to the scent, no matter how many times he faced these things or the Hive, he'd always end up having to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from gagging.

As they approached a curve in the tunnel, Callixtus paused when he felt his vision blur, green filling the edges as a low, raspy voice filled his mind.

_Do not fear me for I am the salvation from your torture._

Callixtus blinked rapidly to clear his mind before giving a passing glance at the Master Chief.

"Heard that too?" The Human asked quietly, seemingly relieved that he wasn't the only one hearing voices as they forged ahead, stopping to pick up Arc blades that were satisfyingly at full charge.

Dropping down another hole, they landed in some coolant, the room was spacious with giant, pulsing spores clinging to the walls, the occasional purple peaking out from beneath the flesh. The two made a point of not touching the swollen spores, not wanting to know what happened when they came into close contact although they both had a pretty good hint as to what would happen.

As they passed through a tunnel and entered another spacious room, Callixtus's vision narrowed once more, the voice vibrating within his mind but faint and seemingly far away. Ghost was putting up mental barriers. The words, however, still rang out crystal clear,

_Let our powers combine! We will be an unstoppable force, we will be immortal. **Everlasting**!_

Shaking his head to clear his mind up again, he assisted Ghost in putting up stronger mental barriers while he and the Master Chief approached an cerulean device which blinked lazily. When the Master Chief activated it, Cortana's avatar appeared, glitching and lagging momentarily before looking up at the Human.

"Chief!" The AI exclaimed, causing the super-soldier to twitch, almost perking up at her voice.

"Cortana?" He asked hopefully, reaching out to her.

"High Charity, the Prophet's holy city, is on its way-" her voice cut out as she glitched back into the module disappearing. Evidently distressed, the Chief leaned forward, calling out her name once more but didn't get to draw her out.

"Maybe I can help," Ghost chirped from Callixtus's helmet. The Titan held out his left hand, allowing the small being to appear and float forward, a small beam of azule light appearing on the module. Ghost chirped and whistled, his pieces twirling idly as a dropship appeared from above. Callixtus and the Master Chief fell into a slight crouch, readying their weapons as they stared at the dropship, waiting for it to drop more aliens or the Plague.

Instead, a large silver orb with a glowing, cornflower optic-lens floated in a downwards spiral, humming gently to itself. Judging by how tense the Master Chief was, Callixtus figured that there weren't any good interactions with this particular AI in the past.

"Reclaimer!" It said in a synthesized male's voice cheerfully as if surprised and please. A loud snarl sounded behind Callixtus and the two soldiers turned in time to see the AI fire a powerful laser at an approaching infected ape.

"Hardlight laser,  _nice_ ," Ghost complimented idly. The AI dipped in appreciation before approaching Cortana's module. "Whoa, hey, get away from her!" A blue shield appeared around the module just as the AI tried to grab it and Callixtus hissed at the orb.

"I must act quickly!" the AI explained quickly as the Master Chief tried to drag it away from the module. "Before the Construct suffers anymore damage!"

"I've got it from here,  _thanks_."

"A Construct of your-oh?" The AI paused, a white light going over Ghost which prompted Callixtus to drag the little light away from the glowing ball, cradling the Ghost in his arms with a low, protective growl. "A Construct of your model? That must mean the Seekers-oh, absolutely splendid!" The same light roamed over Callixtus before closing in on his wound. "One of my Makers has been reborn! This is a terrific development!"

It approached Callixtus, mere inches from the Titan's face, "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04! I request that we head someplace safer in order to make repairs to the Construct." Another snarl and Guilty Spark backed up slightly, seemingly surprised at the Titan's attitude.

"On Halo," the Master Chief spoke up, anger tinging his voice, "you tried to  _kill_  Cortana! You tried to kill  _me_!" Spark turned to face the Human, retaliating simply,

"Protocol dictated my response. She had the activation Index and you were going to  _destroy_ my installation." It got relatively close to the super-soldier's face and said cryptically, "You  _did_ destroy my installation. Now I have only one function: to assist my Maker and his Reclaimers. As I always should've done." It faced Callixtus who still glared at the AI, Ghost still in his arms.

The Master Chief stared at Guilty Spark before looking over at Callixtus, his judging gaze roaming over the Titan's battered form, lingering slightly on the Ghost before he turned to the AI and let it take hold of the module. As it flew up towards the dropship, an anti-gravity well appeared, taking the two soldiers up into its bay and to yet another strange place.

Callixtus looked down at his Ghost and let him go, letting the little light take its place over his shoulder.

"I don't like him," Ghost grumbled simply.

The Guardian stared outside the dropship, watching as two flagships dragged golden lasers across the floor of the facility and the area surrounding it. 'Glassing' is what the Master Chief called it, literally turning the area into molten glass and killing all who got into its path, rendering the area barren and lifeless.

_-the Abyss will gaze back into you._

* * *

Ghost was notably smaller while it floated idly beside Guilty Spark as the two of them worked on fixing the module. Callixtus was tense; he didn't trust this AI despite saying that it served him. How did it know what he was? Did the Forerunners make it? Possibly, but how could it know about the Seekers? The Ghosts? Something rubbed the Guardian the wrong way and it took a lot of willpower to not drag his Ghost away from that  _thing._

"Can it be saved?" The Elite sitting in the chair above the holomap, the Shipmaster, asked as the two continuously pressed their working beams to it.

"Uncertain," Guilty Spark replied almost immediately. "This storage containment unit has suffered considerable trauma."

"Perhaps one of  _our_ technicians-" Lord Hood began to suggest, only to be interrupted by the Shipmaster.

"That will not be necessary."

"It'll be laggy. Glitchy. But it'll work," the Ghost answered smoothly, giving a more optimistic side to the news just as Cortana popped out of the module once more.

 _"Chief, High Charity, the Prophet's holy city, is on its way to Earth. With an army of_ Flood _. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind. It knows I'm in the system._ " Her avatar glitched, pausing momentarily, allowing the Master Chief to say reluctantly,

"It's just a message."

"Let it play," the Shipmaster suggested as Guilty Spark adjusted the module.

" _But it doesn't know about the portal_ or  _the Guardian, where it leads, who and_ what  _he is. On the other side, there's a solution, a_ way  _to stop the Flood without firing the remaining Halo rings. The Ark._ " She let out a cry of pain, clutching her head as she fell to the ground. " _And the Guardian, Chief, he's **Forerunner**. If that Ark doesn't work, then the Guardian may be our last chance. The Gravemind can't know about him. Hurry, Chief, there isn't much_ _time..._ "

"I'm sorry," Guilty Spark said softly.

"No matter, Oracle," the Shipmaster murmured, turning his gaze from the module to Callixtus, everyone following his gaze to lock onto the still form in the shadow behind the Master Chief. "The Construct says that you are Forerunner. Is this true?" Callixtus tilted his head to the side a little bit, folding his arms behind his back indifferently.

"Yes," the Ghost answered, flying up to the Guardian. "However, he's only half."

"Then what's the other half?" Keyes asked, stepping forward, looking at Callixtus up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

"They were called Patriarchs. Extinct now. As far as I can tell, my Guardian is the only one." A partial truth but they couldn't necessarily risk the truth just yet; it'd be too wild, too unbelievable.

"And where have you been this entire time?" It was a near snap now but they didn't flinch. Instead, Ghost answered enigmatically,

"The Universe is vast, Commander." There was a sinking silence that filled the room before Ghost continued, "Look, let's get this straight, we're not going to betray you or anything if that's what you're wondering. These Halos are a big mistake and, quite frankly, we don't feel like dying _permanently_. You need our help, we're right here, ready to go, just give us the word. Need Forerunner magic? My Guardian can provide Arc and Void power and a whole arsenal to supply a regiment. There's also me."

"Then we're going through the portal," the Shipmaster remarked smoothly, redirecting the conversation to the situation at hand. "We'll be chasing after the Brutes and that bastardized Prophet, Truth!" The Elites on the bridge roared in agreement as Lord Hood sighed, adding,

"Aye, I suppose so. We'll remain here, hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear? Your world is burning. The Flood is there, even the smallest contamination can infect millions."

"And  _you_ , Shipmaster, just glassed half a  _continent_! Maybe the Flood is all I should be worried about."

"Perhaps," Ghost chirped, twirling it's pieces, "but this Covenant is a rather large threat. While both reek of an ancient Darkness, the Covenant's intellect will get them everywhere faster. Granted it's your homeplanet but would you trade Earth for a superweapon? Irregardless whether my Guardian could stop it or not? Also," it flew down to Cortana's module, "Cortana's plan and information-"

"Cortana?" Hood interrupted. "Did you see her condition? How damaged she is? She could be corrupted for all we know." The Master Chief leaned forward, staring at the module as Ghost twirled its pieces, an angry whistle emitting from it. "Her solution could be a Flood trap!"

"We should go through the portal, find out for sure," Keyes stated, her position painstakingly clear.

"What we  _should_ do, Commander, is  _understand_ ," Hood demanded. "Clearly, that this is Humanity's final stand. Here, at Earth."

"Funny, that's what my Guardian and I thought but then we ended up out of place and out of time in some ridiculous Vault," Ghost inputted sarcastically. Hood glared at the little light, retorting simply, "We go and we risk everything. Every last man, woman, and child. We stand our ground. We might just have a chance."

"We speak from experience, Lord Hood," Ghost stated, flying up to the Human. "Our last stand turned out to be a disaster, ravaged the entire planet save for  _one city_. Even then, that city was already weak, we just barely survived the Collapse, and, still, we hang by threads, counting our days. The only way we were able to survive was to lose bodies but gain information. Should we doubt Cortana then the Grave Plague has already won. Mistakes should be fixed before they've taken place." Ghost turned towards the Master Chief who gazed back, stating simply,

"I'll find Cortana's solution." He looked over at Lord Hood. "I'll bring it back." Lord Hood made his way over to the super-soldier, looking up at him as he said,

"Earth is all we have left." He gestured over to Cortana's module. "Do you trust Cortana that much?"

"Sir, yes, sir," the Master Chief answered without hesitation.

"This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst, I doubt I'll live long enough to figure it out," Lord Hood deadpanned before gazing at Callixtus. "And you, Guardian, I assume you've got some kind of backup plan worked out here in case it all goes to hell." This was met with a slow nod and the Human nodded in approval before turning and marching off the bridge.

Everyone else eventually filed out, the Ghost disappearing back into Callixtus's mind and Guilty Spark following the Arbiter; they all went into the hangar, the Master Chief and Commander Keyes seeing Lord Hood out while the Arbiter went off, picking up the Humans' weapons as he went. Callixtus followed idly, watching the exchange from afar, watching with slight amusement as the Human notoriously known as Johnson somehow successfully carried multiple weapons twice the size of him over to his soldiers.

Callixtus subconsciously rubbed his shoulder once more when he felt the familiar burn of ships entering the gate crawling across his entire body. Looking down, he fiddled anxiously with the relic before reaching up once more and rubbing his shoulder, feeling a pulse of power emanate from the two - really, the wound on his shoulder was anything but by now, it seemed to be more of a mark that seemed to correspond with the Aegis relic stuck to his arm. It was the same type of power he felt whenever he harnessed the light to use his Arc abilities or his Void abilities.

Concentrating on the feeling and eliminating any outside noise, Callixtus felt let the lingering power grow and course through him, spiking up his senses. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the mark and the relic, letting everything else fade into the background; in his mind's eye, he pictured the empty space beside the Master Chief where Commander Keyes previously was. He felt as if his body was gently being taken apart, scattered throughout the wind, and just as quickly, he felt himself being pieced back together.

"What-" The Master Chief's voice rumbled beside him in surprise and the Titan opened to his eyes to see that he had managed to move himself across the hangar and over near the bay doors albeit at the cost of making the world twirl for a good several minutes as he tried to get sense to reassert itself. He saw the super-soldier looking over at him, head tilted slightly. Callixtus merely gave him a shrug in response, one that said,  _I don't know what I'm doing but it worked and no one's dead,_ causing the Human to shake his head lightly, descending the ramp and gesturing for the other to follow him.

Staring down at the relic on his arm before looking over at his mark, Callixtus cursed softly. By the way he ended up when he appeared next to the Master Chief, wasn't ready for this kind of power, not by a long shot, and he'd probably regret discovering all of these things in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell yeah, I finally got this chapter up. Included the Aegis relic a little more, fixed some dialogue and weapons, and otherwise, small little detail fixes.
> 
> Still developing the lore so everything might be like, "wtf is Romans thinking" but I promise I am making an attempt to have everything smoothly connect and make sense. I never imagined it would be so hard but oh, well, it is very fun.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Teleporting Kills - Callixtus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does everything hurt? the Titan asks.

The plasteel plating melded easily with what little radiant energy Callixtus had left, fixing the warped armor as well as buffing his greaves and chestplate, significantly raising the durability of the armor.

He had joined the Master Chief in the armory, however, as the other sorted out his equipment, the Guardian had sought to remove his armor entirely to repair the battered piece - there was no use in repairing it by killing himself, the Humans here didn't know about his Light nor the infamous, suicidal tactics of the Guardians.

Now, he walked around the shell - his armor, having chosen a corner of the armory as soldiers came and went, gathering their gear, occasionally tossing strange glances at the Guardian in the corner; the Master Chief stood off to one side, appearing to be calibrating his armor with the help of several field technicians. He too seemed to be keeping an eye on Callixtus, tossing him sparing glances every now and again but the Titan brushed it off, wholly concentrating on fixing and upgrading his armor with the materials he had on hand.

Callixtus, with the help of his Ghost, brought the beaten armor back to pretty much what it was before his arrival to this timeline. As the Ghost flew around it, making sure little details of the armour was fixed, calibrating and recalibrating the helmet, Callixtus took some time to lean back and catch his breath. He sat on the floor, legs loosely crossed, running a hand through his abnormally long, dark hair; it was usually a faded cut but over the past year-and-a-half, it had quickly grown out to the point where he actually had to pull up it into a messy gibson tuck or top knot. One day, it was going to kick him in the ass and he knew it.

With a sigh, he ran his hands down his face, fingers running over the familiar scars that he knew every edge of. Granted, he'd never actually  _seen_ his face as the Guardians believed that vanity would only hinder them but he knew the contours of it, subconsciously tracing his own cheekbone and over his chapped lips; if anything, he knew that his face was gaunt, cheeks hollow and eye tired.

Frowning, he reached up and prodded his right eye where the Ghost once described it being milky white, the iris a darker, more silver color compared to the sclera. Completely and utterly blind. Not that it hindered him. He hadn't actually noticed that he was blind in that eye until one of his fireteam members pointed it out.

Another sigh escaped him at the thought of his fireteam, his friends, and he dropped his hands, looking up as the Ghost spun around the armor before it flashed it's blue beam over it, changing the color.

"Bright on the eyes," the Ghost commented idly as it switched through the different shaders Callixtus had collected over the years.

"It's also really flashy, kind of gives this big 'I'm over here!' sign for everyone else. Let's get something subtle." Callixtus simply grunted in response, leaning forward slightly to tinker with the boots when the shader stopped on a molten-themed color, Sunsetting, a shader that Eris Mourn had given him when he returned an urn full of ashes to her. Traveler-knows-what she did with that. The outer armour was black and varying shades of brown and grey while smaller details, such as the spikes on the elbows of the gauntlets and the under-armor were pulsing a soft, molten orange, reminiscent of the deadly but gentle glow of magma.

"There, try it on. Looks good as new," Ghost eventually stated with a satisfied chirp, twirling it's pieces happily.

With smooth, practiced ease, Callixtus manually put the armor pieces on, rolling his shoulders, stretching as he took in the new weight with approving consideration before sealing the helmet.

The new amount of Light coursed through him, giving him renewed, boundless energy; he felt stronger, exhilarated, and more aware, bit by bit, he was getting closer to unleashing his full potential as a Guardian and a carrier of the Light. A low rumble of approval escaped him as the Ghost spun around his towering form, taking in all of the data to make sure all of their calibrations were precise and proper.

"With the new upgrades we've implemented, you should be able to gather Super Energy much more quickly, spawn more Orbs, punch faster, and I believe your personal shielding system has been upgraded to hardlight. There's also more room for ammunition.

Anything that comes into contact with the shielding will be electrocuted or infected by the Void, depending on whether you're in your Defender or Striker mindset. The extra shield should linger a little while longer too.

A good thing we upgraded when we did, as old as they are, this Covenant is ruthless," the Ghost explained, hovering in front of the Guardian's helmet. "I can convert some of their materials into plasteel and if we get enough, I can bolster your armor and weapons even more."

Callixtus nodded in approval, walking several laps around the armoury to break in the new feeling the armour gave him.

"I'm also working on either adapting your weapons to compensate for upgraded versions of plasma ammunition or developing hardlight technology altogether. Seeing as the Guilty Spark AI seems fond of you, we could probably get some schematics and speed up the process from several centuries to several weeks or months." The Ghost paused, silent for a moment before making a passing remark,

"I don't recall being so...active in a long while. Ever since we stepped out of the timestream. How long has it been? A few days at the most? It feels like it's been months." A synthesized sigh met the Titan's ears.

"I apologize, Guardian, I didn't mean to ramble. This whole situation is still rather bizarre to me. Sometimes I wonder if it's some unusual vision of yours, that you are simply waiting to be revived but it's too  _real_."

_You are also not a flower._

"There's that, too. Very funny." The Ghost trailed off, humming to itself as the Titan stopped to watch the Master Chief continue to calibrate and test; he was standing on a yellow platform, two metal, magnetic prongs spinning around him, causing the soldier's golden shields to flare before a loud pop filled the air and the shields decharged, the prongs turning red before the shields began recharging once more, shimmering around the super-soldier once before disappearing.

The technicians nodded in approval, making passing remarks about the shields as the Master Chief stepped away; the Human was silent, standing in place and staring at seemingly nothing before he subconsciously nodded and a low 'Yes, sir' met Callixtus's ears.

The super-soldier walked over to the racks of weapons, grabbing a long-barreled weapon - a sniper rifle - as well as an assault rifle; Callixtus stared at the weapons, eyes roaming to find something that looked even remotely familiar to what he carried. Eventually, he picked up the burst rifle - Battle Rifle, he reminded himself mentally - and added it with his miniature arsenal; it didn't have the same technology as his other weapons so Ghost couldn't grab for him, making him resort to magnetically attaching it to his backplates along with whatever secondary or special he was going to take out later. Judging by the weapon the Master Chief picked up, Praedyth's Revenge and Icebreaker would probably be useful in the long run.

After selecting their weapons, the pair walked back to the hangar bay, climbing aboard one of the dropships with the dark-skinned man Callixtus identified as 'Johnson'. Several Humans were seated in the dropship as well, staring at the Master Chief as the two soldiers climbed in, striding over to the back of the blood tray while door closed. Soon after, the ship shuddered for several seconds followed by a momentary loss of gravity.

There were muffled explosions from outside, indicating aerial firefights as the Pelican bypassed ships and headed towards the atmosphere of the artificial structure below.

_We're on the edge of the galaxy._ Ghost explained suddenly when Callixtus peered through the cockpit of the dropship momentarily, backing away when the Master Chief slid past it to view the sight himself.  _If my calculations are correct then we're where the Reef will be standing in several thousand years. Amazing. I wonder if some of the debris in their queendom is this place. What was it called? The Ark?_

_I remember the Traveler telling me stories about this. I didn't believe that they existed, weapons capable of galactic-wide destruction. Then again, the Patriarchs nearly developed weapons of universal-wide destruction._

_But just imagine that. The fate of an entire galaxy right here._

_The turning point of the century._ Callixtus added grimly as the Master Chief exited the cockpit and grabbed his sniper rifle - appropriately identified as an SRS99C-S2 SM by Ghost -, slapping in the clip and staring at the door of the Pelican which lowered slowly to reveal a desert-like plateau.

"That's some view," a soldier clad in black remarked lightly. Distantly, Callixtus heard Johnson say from the cockpit,

"Enjoy it while you can, Marines, as soon as we land, we're right back to it.

Priority one! Secure a landing zone for the Commander's frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open, we can use all the intel we can get." There was a slight pause and Johnson answered to something heartily, "That too, Marines!"

This was followed by a small war-cry from the surrounding soldiers, sounding like, "Ooh-rah!"

_What in Speaker's name is a Marine?_ Callixtus prodded the question towards the Ghost as he brought Praedyth's Revenge out while jumping out of the Pelican with the soldiers and the Master Chief, running along a shaded path up the desert mountain.

_Hrm...it's a creature found in the sea- no, wait. That's not right._ The Ghost paused before speaking up once more.  _Oh, here we go. The Marine Corps. is "a member of troops trained to serve at land, sea, air, or vacuum in correlation to the dedication of protecting Earth and all Her colonies." Huh, wonder where I heard that one before._

"Check it out," a soldier - Marine - said, looking up. "Is that-?"

Callixtus followed his gaze and rose a brow. He'd seen the galaxy multiple times from a distance since he travelled in and out of the Reef during his off-duty, doing a multitude of services for the Queen but he'd never seen it without the purple haze that decorated the border of the queendom. It looked different. A little less colorful but with more purity.

"Hey, focus!" Another soldier snapped as they continued along the path, through a small cave tunnel. "We gotta job to do."

They met up with a scout who whispered towards them, mentioning that they had a good angle, giving them altitude and a small advantage over the patrol that awaited them.

Crouching behind one of the small boulders, Callixtus lined up his shot with one of the birds wandering around; he didn't approve of wasted ammo on weak creatures such as that one but it was surrounded by several of the apes and other birds and grunts so he figured he'd take down as much as possible. Once he heard the crack of the Master Chief's sniper rifle, Callixtus's target disappeared in a ball of violet, the bird and the majority of the aliens around it dissipating into the Void.

Several grenades officially started the firefight although the Marines opted to stay where they were so nothing could get behind any sort of cover. They preserved their special ammo, however, taking out their assault and burst rifles, efficiently killing the smaller creatures as the Master Chief and Callixtus focused on the apes.

It took several moments for them to realise, though, that a turret was shooting at them until Callixtus felt his shield pop. Looking up in irritation at the small gunner, he popped it's head, frowning at the recoil the weapon had. It was  _strong_ to say in the least, almost as bad as the standard pulse rifle; his frown deepened, this would take some getting used to.

Clearing the area didn't take a lot of effort as they were filled mostly with the weaker ranks of the Covenant; the squad climbed down from their vantage point and walked through a tunnel lit by small but powerful lavender lights. Exiting the cave, they spotted a dropship attempting to piece together an AA weapon, the weapon itself simply lacking the head of the turret. Several more dropships lingered, dropping patrols of gold and bright azure apes along with the shielded birds and grunts.

The sniper on the AA weapon's platform was easily taken down followed by the explosion of several plasma coils that resulted in the weaker creatures dying and the familiar stench of singed flesh and ozone filling the air. Some of the crates went flying but none caused any casualties.

As the Master Chief and Titan jumped down to engage with the apes, the azure one, apparently the leader as well, threw out a gold, metallic orb and a loud whine filled the air for a moment. Instinctively, the Guardian threw an arm over his face while activating the Aegis relic's shield, growling as he did so and was, once more, blinded by the device. Patiently, he backpedaled away, ears straining to hear for anything that could detail the location of an enemy.

Hearing the device explode, he quickly deactivated the relic and faced the nearest hostile. Diving away from the snarling ape, he fired the burst rifle at its head, succeeding in knocking its helmet off and further pissing it off. Lunging towards it with a snarl and growl of his own, the Titan clawed at the creature's face, scratching out its eye before delivering a hard punch to its temple to daze it. Sweeping its legs from underneath itself while dodging another lunging alien, Callixtus rolled to his feet, pulling out his Invective with his free hand, offing the grounded ape with the burst rifle and deliver a bellyful of fiery kinetic energy into the other. One died instantly and the other howled in fury at its burning innards. Another shot silenced it.

Quickly, Callixtus focused on another target, sweeping the remainders of the patrol while another dropship quickly arrived, firing large plasma bolts at them in hopes they'd be driven away but only made them seek momentary cover, waiting patiently for the ship to leave after emptying its cargo.

"Hunter pair!" A Marine barked, his call emphasized by one of the shielded creatures smashing several boxes and plasma coils away, ignoring the plasma that washed over its armour, unhindered by the heat. The second Hunter trotted behind it lazily before it set sights on the two equally heavily armoured individuals staring at them from behind the rocks. A rod of green plasma greeted them for peeking and they were driven out of their shelter, each one taking on one of their own Hunters.

The first one swung angrily at the Master Chief who disappeared behind a set of boulders, the only sounds leaving the small arena were burst shots, angry growls and roars, and the occasional diffusion of a plasma rod.

The second Hunter fired a second rod of plasma at the Titan who easily rolled out of the way. Grabbing his Invective once more, the Guardian was mindful of the length and reach of the shield this time. Firing several shots to provoke it, Callixtus dived around it just as it lunged forward with a downwards swing on its shield, the strike was powerful, jarring the body and breaking the boulder Callixtus was on moments earlier clean in half. Fire met its backside and the ground was met with an angry shield that shuddered the earth around the Guardian who, instead, rolled underneath the Hunter's outstretched arm and unloaded the majority of his shells into its pink-orange, fleshy backside. It slumped forward with nothing more than a whimper and elicited an angry cry from its sibling who, unbeknownst to the Titan Guardian, turned to face - from behind the boulder and ignoring the Chief entirely - the killer of its sibling and charged forward, dismissing the Master Chief, and broke through the large boulder that separated it and Callixtus.

It fired a rod of green plasma at the Titan's feet who instinctively dived out of the way and thinking he was out of danger, out of the raging beast's path, and realised with wide eyes that he damned well fell for it. The beast set him up to roll directly into it's path of vengeance and the Guardian paid dearly for it.

When the shield connected with his body, he felt his head snap back and he felt his neck twist at a disgusting angle and several bones broke underneath the harsh pressure. He flew backwards and into the leg of the AA weapon, body colliding harshly with it and surely cracking him even further. He couldn't even get a noise of pain out as he fell to the ground with a harsh thud.

He knew why, had it happen before when he squared off with a Colossus several years ago.

That first strike had killed him.

It was painless as it was the last time he was killed, nothing necessarily  _new_ to him.

As his body met the ground in a cloud of dust, he saw the panicked stance of the Master Chief before the super-soldier regained his composure, angrily firing at the behemoth before throwing a glowing grenade at it. It was as if the world was submerged in water, everything was sluggish and Callixtus could even watch as the creature blew up in slow motion.

In the corner of his eye, he saw the Master Chief rushing towards him just as the Ghost appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like shell calmly explaining the situation to the approaching soldiers and preventing them from moving his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.

* * *

_Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the frozen forms of his new comrades, all who gazed at his corpse. The Master Chief was crouched before him, reaching out as if to pick him up. Looking away at the scene and to where his Ghost would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his comrades._

_With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other side._

_As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly._

_Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It unnerved him at the thought of someone inside his mind; he needed to get down to this as soon as possible, maybe discuss anything unusual with his mental capacity as soon as he was revived._

_He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, words that he'd seen before and were repeated constantly._

**A dead thing in a place of life. A dead thing in a place of life. A dead thing in a place of life.**

_Once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone and rippled, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores._

_The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around; immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux._

_Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran vertically down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then._

_This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other side behind once more._

_What was new was what stood behind it._

_It stood with its arms at its sides, staring at him through the elegantly carved helmet. It wore robes reminiscent to the ones who defeated Crota and donned a shader that was gifted when the son of Oryx was defeated. A bright yellow fusion rifle was strapped to its back along with a deadly-looking sniper rifle. Looking down at its hands, they pulsed softly with Void and Solar energy, the magic sparking and jumping around its fingertips._

_A Guardian. A Warlock._

_Callixtus knew who it was, they were a part of his fireteam but, at the moment, he couldn't remember who they were._

_"We're connected, you and I," the Warlock stated softly. The voice was synthesized, echoing gently and musically around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once,_

_"The Time's Conflux doesn't come without a price, Callixtus. It's a weapon of Darkness so you're infected with Darkness. It upsets the balance within you and now Atheon and I only exist within your mind."_

_"Ephesians," Callixtus breathed, remembering the Warlock's name, memories of the fireteam member flooding back into his mind once more, satisfyingly so. At first, he was relieved to see his partner but then remembered that he was in the Other side. That could only mean one thing. "How did you get here? I sent you all out."_

_"I came back for you, wanted to wait, maybe help too, so I could drag your sorry ass out if you didn't get erased. In case you didn't die. That would be awful."_

_"There are worse things than dying."_

_"I suppose we're living those 'worse things' then."_

_"You got sent back too? Or erased?" Ephesians-44 looked over at one of the empty Gates before looking back at the Titan, the magic on their hands seemingly getting significantly brighter at the question._

_"Something like that. I've been here for, Traveler knows how long. Feels like years. You've got an interesting Side. I was supposed to be erased but something's keeping me tethered here, letting you remember me. If you find whatever it is then maybe you can resurrect me, if my Ghost survived." The Exo Warlock sighed quietly before continuing,_

_"Anyways, that's not why I'm talking to you. I wanted to warn you about the Conflux. Like I said, it's a weapon of Darkness but not only that, it holds a portion of Atheon. As long as you have its power, it's going to be in here too. I've been fending it off for quite a while but what I want to say is that the longer and more often you use the Conflux under the influence of the Darkness, the faster it'll weaken you."_

_"Is there a way we can prevent this?" Callixtus frowned underneath the helmet, this was certainly perplexing news and he was glad he hadn't used the ability often yet._

_"If you die by the Conflux, you'll die permanently because the Darkness will have taken over your entire system. You'll take the Conflux with you. Atheon was muttering something about wiping out the Golden Age if you die, too, but I don't know._

_Point is, we need to turn that Conflux into a weapon of Light."_

_"How exactly?"_

_"Another thing we need to figure out. I'm guessing that if I can purge Atheon from the Other side then it'll be easier for your Light to fight back and put your system back into balance."_

_"If you purge Atheon then we'll be sending it back out into the real world."_

_"Another impasse but if we could defeat it_ permanently _and_ properly _then maybe it'll be worth doing. Another way we could go about is finding another source of Light. This time period doesn't seem like it's been influenced enough by the Light or the Darkness for a proper dosage, though. Just have to get a mass influx of Light and transfer the Darkness into something else." Ephesians stepped around the flower to place a hand on Callixtus's shoulder, adding,_

_"Converting the Conflux is going to take some effort for you, if you ever need to use it, you'll need to concentrate on drawing power from your Light rather than letting it use the Darkness. Granted, it'll leave you mite exhausted for a bit but it'll convert it and start pushing out the Darkness._

_After that, who knows? Maybe you'll start commanding entire armies of Precursor Vex!" The two chuckled softly, the noise ringing gently around the area before fading off deeper into the Other side._

_A low whir interrupted their brief moment of peace and mirth, causing them to look towards the entrance where the silhouette of a Vex Ultra began making it's way from the Gorgons' Labyrinth._

_"Shit, it's found you," the Exo growled, muttering curses under their breath. "You need to leave_  now _!"_

_Without hesitation, Callixtus turned and plucked the black-and-yellow flower from its stem. Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine - accompanied by the roar of the Vex as it picked up its pace, Atheon coming into view - followed by the growing glow of Light. The wind picked up as the whine turned into a low roar as if someone were banging multiple instruments together, the sound clashing harshly against the crisp air._

_He was about to step through when he hesitated, turning to look over at Ephesians who was beginning to step down and towards the Vex Ultra. The Titan reached out, grabbing the Exo Warlock by the wrist, causing the other to look at him in surprise._

_"I can't leave with you, Cal!" Ephesians barked over the roar of the portal. "I don't have a body and if I leave, it'll kill you!"_

_"Like fuck it will!" Callixtus retorted loudly, the pure light's force keeping the Vex at bay. "It's all in my head, right? The only reason it's still around is because I remember it, yeah? And because of the Conflux? If I time it correctly, I can transfer Light reviving into the Conflux and begin the balance; that bastard will not know what hit it! It will be too weak to fight back!"_

_"You're batshit crazy!" Ephesians all but screamed but let themself be dragged into the portal anyways._

_"Understatement!" A loud roar shook the Vault as the two were teleported back to Callixtus's body, color bleeding into the world around them._

* * *

The Light launched the Titan to his feet, reforming his body seamlessly, painlessly as he breathed in a sigh of relief. Cries of confusion and fear rang around him as the Master Chief himself stepped back in surprise, reaching for his weapon before realizing that the man before him wasn't possessed or any other kind of superstitious act. Merely resurrected.

"You died," it was more a statement than anything and the Titan merely nodded. The Master Chief looked over at the Ghost who hovered appreciatively over the Guardian's shoulder, whistling absentmindedly. "Explain."

As if on cue, the small perforated AI flew forward, eye flickering as it hovered several inches from the golden faceplate, blue light reflecting ever so slightly.

"I hold a portion of his Light," it explained simply, chirping. "Guardians are made out of Light. If it's not extinguished then they simply need to find the Light within the confines of their dying mind. A stabilizer to prevent mental damage. Find the Light, I can revive him."

"This..." a new voice interrupted them casually, synthesized and echoing slightly, "this is new. Slightly disturbing."

They spun around, their weapons ready, only to be greeted with the faint outline of a humanoid who was staring at their hands; the left one glowed softly with Solar energy while the other hand glowed with Void energy. Callixtus had seen this happen before, Guardians didn't spawn into the area correctly from their ship, all that was there was a green outline. Sometimes, all they had to do was reenter the ship and exit it again; sometimes, it required more than that. Callixtus never had the problem before so he never bothered with it.

"Guardian Ephesians-44?" The Ghost asked, scanning the outlined Exo. "What're  _you_ doing here?"

"There was an issue and he tried to solve it," the Warlock pointed at Callixtus. "-dragged me out of the Other side because we think that there's something keeping me from entering the Void and passing out of memory and mind."

They lowered their arm when they spotted the Master Chief standing beside Callixtus, staring down at the Exo behind the placid faceplate that glinted in the starlight. "Ooh, is this the Human you two talk about?"

The Master Chief looked over at Callixtus and the Ghost as the Exo strode forward, silently demanding an explanation but only received a gesture that read ' _Don't question it ye_ t'.

Tentatively, Ephesians reached out to touch the armor but their hands, instead, went straight through the Human's chest. The area fell deathly silent before a Marine spoke up,

"Sir, there's a...um-" The Master Chief looked down at Ephesians. The situation didn't seem to elicit a reaction from him.

"Um. This is a new development."

"We need to move along," the Master Chief eventually rumbled, turning away from the stunned group and marching up a path up the side of the opposite cliff.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Ephesians remarked lamely as they fell into step with Callixtus.

Experimentally, the Exo reached out and successfully touched the corpse of a dead ape and then tried to touch the Marine closest to them but merely passed through the Human. "So I can only touch things that aren't alive. Fantastic. I'm dead. Amazing. You and your Ghost better find me a body or my Ghost so it can get me a body."

Continuing up the path, they cleared the area of a small patrol of grunts before entering a small room in the cave; entering it led into a small hallway, two doors sitting on the left side and Covenant panels to the right. Entering the room on the left, they found a small console that glowed softly; upon activating it, a screen popped up along with a wall of text and, although the symbols were foreign, they easily translated in Callixtus's mind before they translated into the commontongue.

_Observed extensive ground action on [LP 656-38 e]. 9,045 survivors barricaded within central government building. Structure's defenses inadequate to withstand extended siege by enemy ground forces (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate position overrun in [173 hours]._

_846 smaller groups in less defensible structures; global distribution corresponding to [probability model zeta]. Estimated local position overrun in [9 hours] (average)._

_Observed local naval forces engage enemy irregular naval group near [DM-3-1123]. Enemy group consisted of 149 commercial shipping vessels, passenger ferries, and private recreational vessels from neighboring system. Enemy losses were total. No damage was sustained by local naval vessels._

_However, it was immediately apparent that the enemy group sought only to enter [DM-3-1123 b's] atmosphere and make landfall. In this they were partially successful._

_Observed extensive ground action on [DM-3-1123 b]. Enemy forces lacked basic unit cohesion but quickly gained numerical superiority. [32 hours] after enemy landfall 83% of local naval forces advocated total[destruction of the biosphere] following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total._

_Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment: 1,318,797 civilian / 42,669 military (.0006% of total population)._

Activating it once more revealed another wall of text, only for the entire system to change into a violent red that blinked rapidly, the words disappearing only to be replaced by another set. This time, they were being typed out.

_You cannot escape from me, Guardians._

_We are connected, you and I._

_We are powerful, we ruled the Universe, and we will once again._

_The Conflux will consume you and you will be a product of Darkness._

_You will die and I will live on, superiour, and with the power of Time coursing through me. It will be my blood and it will be your grave._

_Your Warlock cannot save you now. Your Light cannot save you. No one can save a mortal from spiralling into the depths of an everlasting insanity._

_Your Titan is all but killing himself. He will die a painful and slow death and be confined to the tortures of our reigning Darkness. The Light will perish by his foolishness._

_I am freed and I will find you._

_I cannot be confined._

_Time has made you and it will break you, Guardians._

**_For I am the Monument to all your_ ** _**Sins**._

And then it closed down completely, the hologram disappearing and the entire system shutting down completely, leaving the soldiers stare at it before looking at each other. It was more than unnerving and very disturbing but they had no time to dwell on it.

Grabbing their weapons, they exited the room and walked out onto a plateau where stranded Marines seemed to be awaiting them, their backs to them as a flaming longsword flew fast and low, crashing somewhere in the distance, the ground rumbling from the initial explosion.

The soldiers quickly formed up with the others, greeting them cheerily, giving Ephesians a passing glance, who just glared at them all before staring blankly in the distance, standing rigid before they reached for the fusion rifle on their back, beginning to backpedal away.

"Oh, fuck  _me,_  there's Gorgons in here," was all the Warlock said before they let out a strangled yell and seemingly disappeared from view, their form fading entirely.

_Your neural activity just spiked,_ Ghost reported suddenly.  _I think Ephesians is back in your head. Fighting Gorgons. Why are they fighting Gorgons in the Other side?_

_Probably to distract them._ Callixtus replied worryingly.  _I have a feeling I messed up._

_How so?_

_Atheon might have escaped the Other side when I tried to convert the Conflux, somehow escaped through the portal or some other. And it's most likely messing with Time or forming an alliance with this Covenant while simultaneously making another Precursor Vex army. One in my head to keep Ephesians busy and another out here. To fight us. We could all die because it stupidly killed everything in the entire galaxy. This is awful._

_That_  does  _sound terrible._ There was a slight pause as the squad cleared the area of grunts and a lingering ape.  _I bet you two hundred glimmer that we'll see Vex._

_What are you going to do with all that glimmer?_

_I was just trying to lighten the mood._ Another pause as they watched the Master Chief pick up a rocket launcher and shoot out the entire content of what looked to be some kind of sand prowler. All the aliens died without a sound and the vehicle was, miraculously, still intact, perfect for driving. The super-soldier turned sharply and reacted quickly enough just as another one of the prowlers appeared over the dunes and, once more, all its occupants were obliterated but the vehicle remained intact.

_I see your two hundred and raise you five._

_You're on._

Callixtus waited patiently as the Master Chief got the Marines accompanying them situated, giving one of the prowlers to them before climbing onto the other. Without waiting to be told, the Guardian climbed into the turret as a soldier wielding one of the many rocket launchers took a seat on the side of the prowler before they took off smoothly over the dunes, heading to towards the crashed longsword.

_Ghost, if you can, see if you can find Ephesians. Integrate them into the neural net, I need to know what's going on._

_Working on it._

Several vehicles awaited them - identified as 'Choppers' if the way that Marine screamed at it was any indication - and began to lay fire on the two sand prowlers that appeared from over the hills of sand, spikes digging deep into the grey metal as the Humans returned fire. A small firefight ensued in the small valley as the Choppers and orchid hover-vehicles whipped around them, plasma and spikes being exchanged between the two factions as they sped around each other in tiring circles before one of the hover-vehicles seemed to have a slip in the controls and accidentally drove into one of the Choppers while simultaneously shooting it on accident.

Everything spiraled downwards for the Covenant from there: the Chopper, turning out to be a mighty delicate vehicle, practically exploded upon impact and the debris proceeded to wipe out one other Chopper, leaving a lone grunt who practically submitted to inevitable defeat.

Callixtus furrowed a brow as they mopped up the patrol that hung around the downed longsword,  _How could someone mess up **that badly**?_

After several minutes of poking around the wreckage, the squad moved on when they saw that there were no survivours, some soldiers stopping to pick up the tags of the fallen and jumping into a Warthog that sat several feet away.

Driving over the dunes, they came across a downed Phantom with several of the birds and grunts lingering around it, waiting for evac. One of the Marines strategically shot at the plasma coils the squatters had gathered, effectively finishing off the Phantom and the not-so-problematic enemies, earning shouts of approval from her comrades.

They came across an open area with a bridge leading into the cliff above it, several Choppers drove off the bridge and into the clearing below to engage the two enemy vehicles. Dealing with them wasn't a hassle and they made their way up to the bridge, bumping over several grunts before crossing the bridge itself.

On one end of the bridge sat a turret and a golden ape while on the other there was a large door with a giant, floating sentry shooting a hardlight beam at the turret. The light easily melted the metal casing protecting the small creature hiding behind it who shrieked just as the weapon below up while the Marines effectively took matters into their own hands and drove into the golden alien. The alien howled as it flew back and into the air, smashing into the rocks on the other side of the area, the sound of its bones cracking audible in the falling silence.

"Oh, nice work, Hernandez," a Marine complimented as several more of the sentry drones appeared from small hatches on the sides of the large doorway.

A Pelican lowered from the sky, seeming out of nowhere, with Johnson on a turret in the blood tray. Several unheard words were exchanged and then the Master Chief drove off the bridge and began following the Pelican as it flew off, heading down into a crevice between a different bridge and the cliff wall that surrounded them.

Several choppers were disposed of as they climbed the dunes, coming across an offensive party of Covenant attempting to suppress a platoon of Marines hiding in an alcove nearby. As the majority of the vehicles were commandeered by the weaker creatures, getting rid of the party wasn't too much trouble and they received cheers of appreciation from the rescued Marines who promptly began gathering their weapons and ammo, piling into the vehicles they managed to save.

"LZ is through the cave, sir!" One Marine exclaimed as they drove past. "Watch yourself, got Covenant heavy armour!"

Passing through the small cave, they broke out into a cliff side where a mortar-based tank awaited them accompanied by two anti-airs. The mortar tank appeared to have been waiting for them and a giant arch of plasma flew towards them, hitting the front of a Warthog and causing the Marines to yelp as they flew out of the destroyed vehicle.

They leapt out of the way of tank and ran off towards the spire of rocks where several patrols were camped out, deciding to leave the heavy-vehicle fighting for those who actually had vehicles.

Callixtus pushed himself out of the turret and hung onto the edge as he lowered his incompetently large body on the other side of the prowler, being careful not to make the vehicle tip over by dropping his full weight onto it at once. Slowly, he set himself on the curved plate, pulling out his rocket launcher just as the mortar tank blew up under the strain of plasma and chain-gun fire. Heading towards the anti-airs, they just barely dodged the green plasma fired at them; leaning out, Callixtus aimed down the sights and waited until he heard the familiar erratic beeping signalling that he had a lock on target.

The rocket flew towards the anti-air tank but it just barely dodged the explosive. However, the rocket turned, making a wide berth and slamming into the vehicle in the backside, straight into the engine. Smaller rockets burst out of the initial explosive, impacting the mangled tank and providing an even larger explosive as the burning aliens inside howled in pain.

"I've heard of rocket launchers being able to track its target but  _what the fuck_?" The Marine on the other side of the Chief's prowler asked incredulously as he let his own pair of rockets loose on the other anti-air. The Master Chief and the Guardian stayed quiet as the prowler turned sharply, allowing Callixtus to gain a clear shot on the next anti-air, the rocket impacting on the hull of the tank.

"Daaamn," another soldier whistled appreciatively, "that thing is  _history_."

As the area settled, the Master Chief began backing the prowler away from the cliff side just as a soldier pointed at the sky, exclaiming,

"Look! Up high! Here she comes!"

Following the Human's gaze, Callixtus watched with wide eyes as the frigate began her descent, the wind picking up and blowing back debris and entire vehicles as it docked above the area. He felt the prowler shift, getting blown back with the other vehicles as soldiers whooped in appreciation before the erratic wind settled and the Master Chief along with the others joined below the ship, watching as several platforms were lowered, revealing more Warthogs, Mongooses, and a few tanks.

_That's a nice vehicle._ Ghost whistled in appreciation as the Master Chief quickly claimed one for his own, Callixtus opting to ride on the tread's armor to the right, followed by the Marine from the prowler.  _Those things could probably take out a Walker if they were fast enough._

As the miniature armada moved forward, Callixtus took out Hawkmoon, once realizing that a super-soldier in a tank was practically unstoppable, and set to picking off ground troops or anything that peeked its skull out of its vehicle; backtracking through the cave, they met up with one of the prowlers and disposed of one Covenant-controlled one. When the tank blew apart a trio of the orchid hover-vehicles, the Marine next to him cheered happily, "Tank beats Ghosts!"

_Oh, so that's what those things are called._ Ghost stated icily.  _Fantastic._

Entering the cave, they came across a pair of Hunters which were quickly blasted away followed up with the same soldier saying,

"Tank beats Hunters!"

Immediately, the tank's large turret swung around to shoot at the azure dropship, four rounds succeeding in blowing the vehicle up, eliciting a cry,

"Tank beats  _everything_! Oh, man, I could do this all day!"

As they traveled back to the bridge, the Covenant stood no chance against the trio of tanks and barrage of endless rockets - Callixtus was more careful in using his sparingly however - and the ride back proved rather  _uneventful_ and  _unchallenging_.

"All armor, form up on the lower level!" A Marine eventually called out as they approached the bridge. "Chief, get upstairs and have those little robots pick that lock!"

"I beg your pardon!" Guilty Spark stated as it flew alongside the Master Chief's tank. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04!"

_Still a robot._ Ghost muttered before it appeared over Callixtus's shoulder, wholly ready to face whatever mechanism barred their way.

"Yeah, well, you and the little diamond are also our tickets through this wall." Ghost's eye fluttered as it twirled it's pieces in deep thought before chirping,

"Interesting that they refer to me as a diamond. I'd say 'perforated or warped cube'."

"If you two don't mind-" The Marine continued irritatingly.

"I would gladly pave the Reclaimers' progress," Guilty Spark remarked as Ghost murmured, "Yeah, sure, anything for my Guardian."

As the orb flew off, Ghost drifted away from Callixtus, saying, "I'll go follow him and see what I can get about how this place works."

The Guardian stared at it, roughly shaking his head, prompting the Ghost to lightly nudge the other.

"Promise I won't die. I have no one else to take my glimmer when I win that bet." This got Callixtus to swat at the small AI who merely laughed and flew off after Guilty Spark as the tank rolled onto the bridge, bodies crunching underneath the heavy treads. Some mortar tanks barred the way, a dropship flying off as Covenant swarmed through and around the barriers set up to keep the Humans out.

As the tank rolled over the smoldering remains of the Covenant and their tank, Callixtus watched as Guilty Spark and Ghost worked on the door, seeming to be conversing quietly. The Titan and the Master Chief climbed off the tank and towards the door, waiting patiently for the two to finish.

"Ah, there we are," Spark said suddenly as the door soon lifted open. "Please, follow me."

Entering the facility, Spark hummed to itself as led the Humans down the hall where a small sentry drone appeared from a small hatch in the wall. Callixtus stared at it curiously, Ghost running scans over it before returning to its place over the Guardian's shoulder.

"Interesting," Ghost murmured.

"It appears that they're armed with hardlight lasers. I didn't know that these weapons have even been developed at this time! If we could get one of those then we could decode dozens of engrams the Cryptarchs have accumulated over the years!" After a moment's pause, the small AI added as an afterthought,

"Maybe Master Rahool will stop giving everyone such obsolete weapons too."

Absentmindedly, the Ghost set to work on unlocking the small door the squad stopped in front of, opening it in record time before Guilty Spark had time to give it a go. Entering a large area, Callixtus peered over the edge and spotted the vehicles waiting for a bridge below and below that, an abyssal end. Spark guided the Master Chief and Titan over to a set of controls, remarking that one of them should activate the bridge.

Callixtus watched, this time a little unimpressed, as a hardlight bridge appeared.

"Excellent," Spark stated happily, flying off once more, "this way!" Entering another, smaller room, they spotted a pile of scrapped sentries although when Ghost did a scan on them, they were utterly useless and didn't provide much information much to the AI's dismay.

Another set of doors opened, leading outside, and revealing a tall, intricate, pointed structure in the distance, hanging over a cliff where - on the other side - stood a body of water which fell into a long waterfall into something dark below. Peering down once more, the soldiers watched as the heavy armour exited the facility as well just as the ground rumbled.

Callixtus jumped, pulling the Ghost away, just as an armored, spindly leg landed right next to him, rocketing him into the air momentarily. Another synthetic-organic had appeared and seemed to be heading towards the clearing in front of the structure. The small AI uncharacteristically spewed a string of curses in surprise as it disappeared back into Callixtus's mind.

_I think I'll let you handle that one while I find Ephesians._

The Titan rolled his eyes as the Ghost disappeared, joining up with the heavy vehicles below and jumping back onto the tank as the Master Chief assumed control once more. The vehicles rolled down the cliff, dodging rocks and blowing up Ghosts along the way. Several mortar tanks stood in their way as they attempted to enter the clearing, the three tanks facing off as the Warthogs and Mongooses zipped through their defenses to focus on taking down ground troops and the Ghost vehicles.

Marines whooped in excitement at the resounding explosions, gunning down stragglers, as they drove down towards the clearing in front of the large structures.

"Scarab's back!" A Marine on the other side of the tank barked, pointing up at the spindly synthetic. "This time it means business!"

Callixtus stood on top of the armoured treads, Hawkmoon in his hands as the Master Chief approached the behemoth of a synthetic arachnid.

_Oh, no, I can hear your thoughts. Do **not**! _ Ghost stated suddenly but it was too late. Already, Callixtus sought out his mind's eye, searching for the control room of the large vehicle and then he felt himself move through the very fabrics of reality.

"Holy fuck-!"

Feeling himself being pieced back together, the Titan blinked rapidly to compensate for the sudden darkness before spotting the familiar shielded core, the arachnid shuddering beneath the impact of multiple heavy weapons.

Stepping forward, he groaned softly when his vision swam and pain flared throughout his body, arm resting across his sternum even though the pain originated from everywhere. Shaking it off, he took another step, ignoring it as he punched the shields away before shooting at the flesh. A loud shriek pierced the air as the flesh was shredded away and the arachnid let out a whine, alarms filling the air.

_Now would be a very good time to leave!_ Ghost exclaimed as the Titan stumbled outside, shaking underneath the growing pain.  _Now means **now** , Callixtus!_

Wordlessly, the Guardian jumped off the monster just as it screamed and exploded, raining down it's mangled glory as Callixtus landed in the sand, stumbling before falling, landing on his knees.

Ghost appeared once more, taking quick scans of the Guardian who just lay on the ground, breathing harshly through his nose as the platoon of vehicles surrounded him, the Master Chief jumping out of the tank and approaching them just as Ghost reported,

"Guardian, your hearts' rates are frighteningly low as is your BP. Circulation and lungs stopped functioning momentarily and your neurals just spiked impossibly. Something's going on in your neural net. What are you  _doing_?! What was that?!"

Callixtus huffed, hands moving sluggishly as he tried to push himself off the ground, letting Ghost berate him.

"I've seen only the Vex use that! Is that what that terminal is talking about? Are you using the Conflux? Did you  _take_ the Conflux?!"

Once more, Callixtus ignored him, struggling to his feet as the pain receded; the Master Chief steadied him, gaze flickering between Ghost and the Titan.

"What's going on?" He demanded eventually, apparently irritated at being kept out of the loop of whatever was going on between the two.

"That's what I'd like to know!" Ghost barked, miniature body flying close to Callixtus's face.

"As far as I can tell, this idiot is trying to get himself killed by using something he barely knows how to control!" The Ghost's eye made contact with the Titan's faceplate. "Do  _not_  under  _any_ circumstance do that  _again_. Not until I access your neural network and figure out what in the name of the Traveler is going on with you."

The Titan nodded tentatively and the Ghost suddenly whipped it's gaze towards the Master Chief.

"If he does anything suspicious, feel free to punch him," it supplied.

"And tell me, please. I don't normally ask for favours but you're the only one I-  _we_ can trust at the current moment." This was met with a simple nod and the Ghost disappeared once more and the Master Chief faced Callixtus who held Hawkmoon once more, shaking subsiding entirely as the pain finally disappeared.

"Green, Guardian?" And yet another nod was given. Even if he wasn't, he figured he'd still say he was. Too stubborn for his own good and all.

The Master Chief eyed him warily before turning and walking over to a Warthog; as Callixtus climbed in, the super-soldier drove it up the ramp and towards the entrance of the facility, allowing the Marine on the chain-gun to take out any enemies in the immediate vicinity as the others forged forward and to the entrance, seeing that Guilty Spark was already working on opening the door.

A Pelican met them, dropping off reinforcements and the Arbiter who nodded towards them and gave them an idle compliment on their progress before entering the facility.

They walked over corpses of grunts and apes, aliens that were killed by the sentries, as they met up with Spark who set to work on yet another door.

"It seems I've run into an error," Spark announced suddenly.

"Here, lemme take a look," a Marine offered, walking towards the door, only to get hit by Spark's blue beam.

"Oracle!" The Arbiter scolded as the Marine glared at the small orb, saying irritably, "Little bastard  _stung_ me!"

"I did not want you to come to any harm," Spark reasoned calmly as Ghost appeared, mumbling, "Scoot." and set to work on opening the door as the Marine growled under his breath,

"Funny way of showing it."

As soon as the door opened, Ghost disappeared once more, ignoring Spark's compliment as it took the lead once more into a room full of sleeping aliens and one particular ape who was taking a piss in the corner. As the others took care of the grunts, the Master Chief swiftly and silently made his way over to the ape, snapping its neck in the blink of an eye. The sound of armour colliding with the ground, however, woke up the remainder of the smaller creatures and set them into panic, making it rather difficult to kill the rest of them for a moment.

Entering a small hall, the squad made haste into another room leading deeper into the facility and coming across more sleeping grunts. They threw a grenade at a set of plasma coils sitting next to the slumber creatures and wiped out half of the room with them, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that only left the azure ape standing. Its armor was quickly stripped away, helmet popping off with a well-placed shot from Hawkmoon, the handcannon letting out it's customary booming sounds - unusual for a small weapon - and was finished off by a bullet to the throat, left to choke in it's own blood.

They spiraled down deeper into the facility, Guilty Spark leading them the entire way; they ran into a weakly-armoured ape that barked, "Finally, a challenge!" but didn't get much say in considering the fact that the Master Chief threw a plasma grenade into its mouth.

The Humans leapt into the room, guns blazing as they tore down all aliens that stood in their path, their enemies squawking in protest as they valiantly attempted to fight back. Callixtus shoulder-charged one ape, tearing out its arm, and into another, his spiked shoulder piercing through the weak armour and killing it instantly. When he swung around, the body flew off the spike and into a shielded squawker, pinning it down.

Several extra powerful rounds of Hawkmoon pelted another ape's helmet and it went down without a sound as the Titan turned and threw a lightning grenade into a group of shielded birds, the periodic lightning lashing out at the aliens violently, electrocuting them and their shields.

Wordlessly, they continued forward, coming across a large, glass platform curved into a U-shape, control panels expanding from the deep curve.

"The Cartographer," Guilty Spark said in a please voice. "Come, it awaits your approval."

The Master Chief approached the device, activating a hologram of the galaxy as the Arbiter made his way around one of the extended platforms, Callixtus standing several feet away from the Human, eyeing the skies warily.

"That's...our galaxy," the Chief stated numbly as Spark floated idly next to him. "We're beyond the rim."

"Two to the eighteenth light years from the galactic center," Spark noted. "To be precise."

"What is this place?"

"The Ark."

" _This_ is the Ark?"

"I always assumed it was part of a  _shield_ installation but it seems I was mistaken."

"That's a first."

"Not at all. While I have a complete understanding of Installation 04, my Makers limited my knowledge on all other strategic facilities. Compartmentalization. In case I was captured by the Flood." The Master Chief cast Callixtus a passing glance who merely gave a shrug that said, ' _I'd do that, yes_ '.

"Can you tell me where we are  _exactly_?"

"Here." A small blip was highlighted on the hologram of the Ark.

"And Truth?" Another blip was highlighted on one of the prongs of the device.

"In one of the Ark's super-illuminal communications arrays, I'm afraid. Unfortunate. The meddler has triggered a barrier. A defensive perimeter around the Ark's core." As the AI continued explaining the situation, two aerial ships passed casually by outside, causing the soldiers to tense up.

Slowly, the Master Chief made his way around the perimeter of the device, keeping his eye on Spark as the AI continued rambling,

"The barrier  _will_ be difficult to disable. How odd that my Makers would place such a comprehensive defense around a single-oh my."

"What is it?"

"Phantom!" The Arbiter barked, pointing at the approaching dropship. The Master Chief dived behind cover as the others pulled out their weapons, prepared for whatever came out of the dropship.

"Spark, move!" The Chief ordered and the orb instantly moved to the Human's side.

"We  _must_ get past that barrier or the meddler will destroy it all!" Spark exclaimed. Immediately, the Master Chief ran towards where they came from, Callixtus lingering behind as the Arbiter stated,

"Follow the Oracle, Spartan, I will help your sergeant clear the skies!"

"Sir," one of the Marines spoke up, "a Pelican's gonna land one level down!"

As they descended, they came across assassins, the apes having gone invisible and attempting to get around them. The air blurred irritatingly, distorted by the forms of the apes, and Callixtus concentrated carefully, making sure none of the aliens snuck up on him as his gaze trailed around the room. Taking out his Invective, he waited patiently, turning when he heard a roar and pumped several shells of fire into the belly of the beast, the corpse nearly slumping over him.

Swinging around, he took out another ape that attempted to lunge at him, the creature howling as it tried to put out the flames but only succeeded in spreading them. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one last ape trying its damnedest to keep the element of surprise only to receive a shotgun blast into the stomach and a swift kick to the head, smashing it to a bloody pulp against one of the pillars.

Descending into another platform area, Callixtus engaged with the jetpackers, swiftly knocking many of them out of the air. One of them he was able to knock off the edge and into the abyss below. While simultaneously keeping the other apes busy, he provided as much covering fire as he could for the Master Chief who was currently taking on two heavily armored apes that were attempting to smash him with their brutish hammers.

When one of them went down and the Master Chief picked up the hammer, the firefight passed on rather quickly. The Covenant squad was either smashed to a pulp or kicked off the edge by pissed off super-soldiers, each side spewing out insults along the way.

As soon as the area was clear, two Pelicans appeared, one being controlled by the woman Callixtus recalled being addressed as Commander Keyes. One Pelican came forward to pick up the troops when a swarm of sentries appeared from below. Alert and alarmed, they raised their weapons towards the bots as the Master Chief laid out a warning.

Immediately, the Pelicans turned to have their turrets ready to face off with the bots only to have Guilty Spark stop them.

"No! Don't shoot! They mean us no harm! Those units have a priority task."

"Oh, yeah? And what might  _that_ be?" Johnson asked in irritation.

"I really can't say. Not for sure."

_Oh, I know what they're doing,_ Ghost grumbled suddenly as they watched the sentries disappear _._

_I've established a connection between us and your neural network. You should be able to mentally contact Ephesians now; I'm currently working on finding some way to bring them out here, however._

_I have a feeling you didn't make that remark just because you felt like it._ Callixtus stated hesitantly as he and the Master Chief stepped onto the Pelican, the hatch closing.

_No. I didn't. You owe me five hundred glimmer._

_What?_

_The Vex. They're coming. And they're working for that **thing**._

_Guilty Spark?_

_Yes. Wherever those sentries are going, it's got to deal with the Vex._

_And how did you figure that out?_

_I did some poking around._ Ephesians's voice joined in on the conversation, a new presence filling Callixtus's mind. This one was organic and warm and he suddenly felt like there was a second person inside of him as if he were sharing the body,

_Atheon's got a bit of control in the Other side, it keeps sending Vex here to get the Conflux which appeared shortly after I got back from fighting the Gorgons. I've been stuck in the final area of the Vault. It's chaotic in here, I didn't think it'd be able to happen but they can't get through. Since you have control over the Conflux, your mental barriers are also Vex._

_What?_

_Besides the point, I digress. Every Precursor Vex killed reveals a data packet of information; I've been collecting these, some of them are information and some of them are memories. Moral of the story is, Atheon's made a deal with this Guilty Spark AI and there's a lot of Vex heading your way._

_Not only that._ Ghost added.

_As if it could get worse._ Callixtus frowned.

_Oh no, it can._ Ephesians remarked dryly.  _The presence of your Light, the Conflux, and the lingering Vex woke up the rest of the Darkness prematurely - it's begun the process of recreating a lot of the Vex, specifically Precursors._

_What's the point you're trying to get across?_

_The Darkness is implementing magic into the Grave Plague._

_You mean-?_

_The Hive. They're coming as well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just in: Callixtus and all Guardians and Ghosts are giant nerds. They are not to be taken seriously when outside of battle.


	7. Friends in High Places - Master Chief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well shit, the Spartan thinks.

Bizzare. Unethical. Unusual. Otherworldly.

These were the words that ran through John's head whenever he thought about the Guardian.

Unnatural. Powerful. Unstoppable.

There were three more words.

The Spartan was sure of it; he had watched the Guardian  _die_. Watched as the man took his final breath, even adapt  _rigor mortis_ , but the Ghost calmly hovered over his body, refusing to budge. The AI hadn't said anything and just simply told them to wait.

"Patience," was all he said.

Not three minutes later and the Guardian lunged up, light surrounding his body, encasing him, weaving in and out of every crevice of his armor, and he landed on his feet, rolling his shoulders as if nothing had happened. For once, the Master Chief had been stunned into silence. The Guardian had been resurrected from actual death with no source in sight.

It dawned on John that this man was capable of avoiding death entirely, merely a foreign concept to him.

But when the Guardian returned to the living, he brought something with him; they were vaguely humanoid but John couldn't distinguish any features from them, having only appeared as a faint outline of a human. Their voice sounded synthesized and the Ghost had referred to them as 'Ephesians-44', perhaps an AI of some kind then? They had claimed to have come from the Guardian's imagination and disappeared shortly afterwards, apparently being attacked by something called 'Gorgons'.

Then the Guardian  _teleported_ on to a Scarab. Quite literally. John watched from his position in the Scorpion as the Guardian turned into small white particles and dispersed then he watched as the man jumped off the back of the exploding Scarab.

The Ghost had been angry, yelling about vexes and confluxes, asking the Spartan to watch the Guardian. Whatever he had done was killing him. Permanently killing him.

Mystery. Nonlinear. Cryptic. Chaotic. Wild.

More words began flitting through his mind as he looked over at the soldier standing next to him in the Pelican; the Ghost had appeared over his usual spot over the Guardian's left shoulder and seemed to be conversing with him quietly.

Then there was that electrical explosion he was able to conjure up. It felt more than that though; it felt  _raw_  and more powerful than should be allowed as if the Guardian drew it from some kind of inner source, somewhere else. Backup energy perhaps? There had to be a logical reason around this man, at least  _one_.

Guilty Spark practically confirming that the Guardian was Forerunner added on to the pile of 'what the fuck' that  _is_ the Guardian.

Unique. Practical. Talented. Tactical.

The Pelican shuddered and John snapped his head forward in time to see one of the other dropships fall from the atmosphere and land in the body of water below. Behind him, he heard Stacker giving out various orders the Marines behind them.

Looking out at the chaos below the Pelican, John grabbed the M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, appropriately dubbed the "Spartan Laser", and a Battle Rifle before jumping out of the Pelican before it hit the ground, throwing a frag grenade into the fray to set off several plasma batteries.

"Could we possibly make any more noise?!" The Ghost yelled from over the Guardian's shoulder and was greeted with the Guardian's lightning bolt grenade crackling and snapping at nearby enemies. "Well, I guess so!" The AI ducked behind the Guardian as they advanced forward through the outcropping of rocks and disappeared in a flash of blue.

John took out the Spartan Laser and aimed it towards the anti-air Wraith shooting at the sky; he waited patiently for it to turn before the bright red beam tore across the battlefield, through the tank, and into the turret sitting behind it. In the distance, it sounded like it also hit one of the Banshees.

The Spartan joined up with the Guardian, who had taken the time to pull a turret out of its stand and throw it at a set of fleeing Grunts, and the pair advanced up the hill with the Marines and dived behind some boulders just in time to dodge the fuel rods shot at them. Two Brute Majors rounded on them, wielding Maulers although the superheated projectiles did little to penetrate their shields and the two soldiers retaliated quickly, beating down the pair of Brutes with practised ease and sheer brutality.

Simultaneously, they lunged at the Chieftain, the Guardian delivering a strong punch to its gut as he used his momentum to tackle the giant alien. John followed, holding down the Brute by clambering onto its chest and tore off its helmet; it thrashed and roared, snapping at the Spartan, clawing at him but the Guardian grabbed the arms, snarling while the pair shot at the squirming beast. Several rounds from the battle rifle tore through the brain and it went limp immediately, receiving an irritated bellyful of fiery bullets from the Guardian, the man growling as he stalked away.

Distantly, a Marine reported in the destruction of the anti-air Wraith, Miranda responding as her Pelican began to dip low in the distance arriving on the beach with a flourish, a Gauss Warthog, and reinforcements in tow.

"Shipmaster, begin the diverse bombardment," Miranda ordered as she dropped the supplies.

" _I will beat the Prophet's shield like a drum,_ " Rtas answered in kind. " _By the time the barrier falls, he will **beg** for mercy._"

"Spark says Truth can activate the rings at any time," Miranda explained, her Pelican lifting off. "If he does, Earth...every being in the  _galaxy..._ Halo will kill them  _all_. Get to the first tower, shut it  _down_."

 _Inspiring._ John thought, climbing into the driver seat of the Warthog after giving the passenger ODST the dead Chieftain's Fuel Rod Cannon and one of the Mongoose passengers his Spartan Laser; he then waited for the Guardian to climb on to the turret before starting the drive towards the cliffside with several Mongooses following the vehicle. They dodged around a speeding Ghost which was shot down by the Gauss cannon - the cannon itself eliciting a surprised yelp from the Guardian - and drove around a plateau full of Grunts that gave chase for several moments before succumbing to the hail of bullets raining down upon them.

Driving up the hill, Johnson reported in along with the Arbiter, their own squads having made it to the base of the towers they were assigned to.

As they broke through the crevice they were traveling through, John guided the vehicle across a waterfall that overlooked the entrance below which also had a Wraith guarding it.

A pair of Prowlers rolled out from underneath the entrance to support the Wraith, the vehicles making their way up the plateau to greet the human vehicles.

The Gauss Cannon fired on the Wraith, killing the Brute controlling the turret instantaneously, and taking off the hatch to the pilot's seat of the Wraith itself. In an attempt to save itself from an inevitable doom, the Wraith fired a plasma mortar towards the Warthog only to hit one of the Mongooses, killing the two ODSTs instantly; the other two Mongooses and the ODST in the Warthog retaliated with howls of promises of utter hell, successfully avenging their two comrades by assaulting anything not in a Human vehicle that moved.

Driving down into the entrance of the tower, John successfully ran over the regiment that sat in waiting, successfully derailing a turret that was also sitting with them. After ensuring that the perimeter was secured, he positioned the Warthog carefully so the ODSTs could easily gun down any approaching reinforcements from outside before jumping out of the vehicle and entering the structure with the Guardian trailing behind, leaving the Gauss Cannon to be handled by someone else.

Several Jackals chittered amongst themselves until Grunts began shrieking and fleeing at the sight of the two behemoths that approached them with a deadly gait and even deadlier weapons and intentions. The shielded Jackals valiantly stood against them, backed up by two Carbine snipers although they were easily dispatched by quick melee strikes that either crushed their windpipes or their skulls. No use in wasting ammunition on such weak creatures, he supposed while they finished off the cowering Grunts.

They approached a lift, John picking up a Brute Shot along the way to replace the lost Spartan Laser, and they ascended the tower relatively quickly. As soon as it reached the top, John began assessing the enemies, throwing two spike grenades he had picked off a dead Brute Captain; when they detonated, however, the Brute Chieftain - who conveniently wielded a Gravity Hammer - threw down a regen device, quickly sealing the wounds that the spike grenades gave to the Chieftain and the remaining Brute Major.

The Guardian broke off to engage with the Major, bypassing the Chieftain entirely although it seemed the Chieftain had set its beady gaze on to the Spartan anyways. John rolled back just as the Chieftain swung down, leaving the metallic floor below them dented. Several grenades from the Brute Shot cracked the crazed Brute's armour before it donned the invincibility power-up, lasting long enough to nearly shatter the floor as the Spartan dodged around it once more. Once the power-up began wavering, the device sputtering, John darted behind it once more, firing the rest of the grenades from the Brute Shot to fully crack down the armour before throwing the weapon, the blade of it slicing cleanly into the Chieftain's neck.

The weapon clattered to the floor along with the head which rolled lamely across as the body fell to the ground with a dull thud, blood pooling around it quickly.

John calmly retrieved the weapon, reloading it with a new belt of grenades, and strode towards the tower controls, passing the Guardian who was taking his time in wiping his gauntlets and shoulders off on the fur of one of the Brute's corpses before joining the Spartan as he turned off the tower.

" _Good work, Chief,_ " Miranda complimented, " _that's one. The Arbiter should be just about-that's two! It's all up to Johnson's team now._ " The two looked over at the still active tower, John frowning at the lack of activity that seemed to go on. " _Go back outside and wait for transport._ " After waiting for several moments to see whether or not it'd shut down, the pair eventually went back down the ship and exited the tower as Miranda attempted to hail the Sergeant Major.

" _We need reinforcements, ma'am, we're pinned down,_ " Johnson eventually reported, his comms. more than slightly, unnervingly staticky.

" _I'm on my way!_ "

" _Negative. Fire's too heavy. Everyone, fallback!_ "

" _Sergeant Major!_ " A tense pause. " _Johnson, can you hear me?_ " Another pause. " _Chief, you and the Guardian need to link up with the Arbiter and proceed directly to the third tower. Make your way back to the beach_."

Driving back through the crevice of the cliff once more, the small squad came across several Hornets that landed on the shores of the beach. Hocus explained that the only way to currently get to the third tower was via Hornet as it was more efficient to simultaneously take care of aerial issues so that the reinforcements didn't have any trouble getting to the LZ.

When offered one of the aerial vehicles, the Ghost appeared, saying, "I've got something worked up for the Guardian, a schematic I managed to scrounge out with the help of Ephesians. Let's go, transmat just got on online." And the Guardian disappeared in a flash of blue-and-white.

"Why do we get stuck with the weird ones?" one of the Marines muttered as John got into the Hornet, the vehicle lifting off as soon as the two passengers got on board.

Although the Hornets weren't as swift or maneuverable as the Banshees they were pitted against, the Human aerial vehicles made it up for their guided missiles, something that Fuel Rod Cannons attached to the Banshees couldn't necessarily do too easily. When the Banshee thought it had shaken off a pair of the missiles, the projectiles circled back and kicked it in the ass. Glorious.

After taking out an anti-air Wraith that had been bothering the Pelicans for a while, the Spartan made his way over to the tower, circling around a cliff as he targeted several Banshees surrounding a Covenant Phantom, taking them out before downing the Phantom itself.

" _Objective in sight, Commander,_ " Stacker reported.  _"No sign of Johnson or his team._ "

" _Understood,_ " Keyes replied smoothly. " _Chief, clear an LZ. Then get me inside the tower._ "

Several more Covenant Phantoms and Banshees appeared, heading straight towards the Pelicans and Hornets that attempted to approach the tower. Between them and the anti-air Wraiths, John figured it'd be a pretty difficult fight if he didn't maneuver the Hornet correctly. Just as the thought crossed his mind, three of the Phantoms approaching them seemed to have spontaneously combusted into purple energy, reminiscent of something he'd seen before.

" _This ship is a **beauty**!_ " The Ghost crowed suddenly through the open comms. as a small fighter ship appeared from orbit, a steel-blue in colour with a horizontal yellow stripe going across its small rectangular engines and hull. " _We got you covered, Spartan! Take care of those anti-airs!_ "

The ship circled around in a large loop, barreling clean through a Banshee while shooting at another, the ship seemingly shrugging off the plasma as if it were nothing, suffering only a small scorch mark. The Banshees and Phantoms were successfully destroyed by the nimble ship and supporting Hornets as were the Wraiths taken down with ease by the remaining vehicles that were already on approach on the balconies of the third tower's entrance.

Separatist Phantoms began appearing on approach along with the Pelicans, both types of dropships dropping off human and alien reinforcements alike as the Spartan's Hornet landed. They watched as the Guardian's ship hovered above them and the Guardian himself appeared once more in a flash of blue and white, the Ghost hovering over his shoulder and chatting animatedly.

"-warpdrive doesn't exactly work just yet but Ephesians and I are close to finding a way to fix it with what supplies we can find lying around-" The Guardian began lightly batting at the Ghost who continued talking at an exhausting pace, ignoring the Guardian's light, warning swats. "-if you keep this up, I think we could use the Conflux to-" The Guardian grabbed the Ghost with one hand, brought him up to his faceplate and put a finger over where his mouth would be with a soft 'shh' escaping him; at first, the Ghost stared at him as if trying to comprehend what the Guardian was attempting to say before his eye lit up.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll go put the ship in orbit now!" The Ghost apologised before disappearing back to wherever he goes.

" _Go ahead and put it in the_ Dawn's  _hangar, we don't need any surprises taking anything out right now,_ " Miranda offered as the platoon made their way inside the tower, tearing down a squad of Brute Captains along the way.

Entering the area below the lift, John frowned at the silence before glaring up at the ceiling when he heard the telltale buzzing of drones meeting his ears. His glare hardened when he heard the familiar battlecry of a pair of Hunters sound at the same time. It seemed like the Elites weren't all to pleased with it either and the entire area turned into a maelstrom. Bits and pieces of flesh and armour and...yeah, he didn't know  _what_ was on that particular Elite but it wasn't human, that was for sure, gore littered the area in a messy repaint and as they traversed the small area, they left a storm, a trail in their wake. Wings, fur, armour, anything and everything that got in their way of the lift ended up smashed on the ground.

The Elites waited, watched, as John and the Guardian ascended in the lift, entering a similar room although this time, it was filled with Stalkers and a Brute Chieftain possessing a plasma turret.

The Guardian darted forward, dodging the plasma fire and hiding behind one of the walls, delivering a powerful backhand to one of the Stalkers that attempted to approach him before shooting it in the chest with his flame-prone shotgun. He lifted it upside-down over his head when he heard another approaching, delivering another shot that pierced the Stalker's helmet and it went down with a loud cry.

John lunged into the fight, firing the last belt of Brute Shot grenades at the Chieftain to get rid of its armour as best he could before taking out his battle rifle, swinging the butt of the weapon into the skull of an approaching Stalker. Several bursts of bullets escaped the barrel, connecting with the weak Stalker armour that last Brute had, popping off the helmet and delivering a perfect headshot.

The Spartan turned to confront the Brute Chieftain, not surprised when the Guardian leapt at the turret, grabbing on to the entire weapon and using his body's momentum to swing around the Chieftain and shove it down as he pushed on it's back with his feet. John rolled underneath it, holding up the blade of the Brute Shot so it easily fell on top of the sharp blade, piercing the armour and causing it to howl and squirm. Leaving the Brute Shot blade in place, the Spartan pried off the Chieftain's helmet, avoiding the gnashing death, and proceeded to beat it to death with it's own helmet, the contours of the helmet coated with blood and leaving the Brute's face unrecognisable.

Deactivating the last tower, the pair watched as the final barrier fell and the Separatist flagship hovered over the Ark's centre menacingly.

" _Now, Prophet,_ " Rtas began lowly, " _your end has come._ " As the Elite said this, a slipstream vortex opened, allowing the familiar silhouette of High Charity to slip through, no longer the gleaming glory it first was when John stepped on to it. Debris followed the crashing space city, some of it striking the flagship, tearing straight through the mighty ship.

One particular piece crashed into the tower, soaring over the pair's heads and landing in the back of the room. What crawled out was definitely  _not_ Flood. There was a multitude of them and they were spiny, sunken, and a deathly looking grey. It had no eyes and was lipless, allowing shrieks more deafening than the Flood's own cries to ring throughout the area, the clawed fingers glowed with dark blue energy, and it was wholly intent on  _killing_  and  _eating_.

John stood ready and looked over at the Guardian, surprised to see that the soldier seemed to have faltered, his confidence and cool disappearing, hands trembling momentarily before he regained his composure and pulled up the mask of cool confidence, this time, he was armed with a silver revolver reminiscent of a hawk, the fiery shotgun magnetised to his back, just in case.

"What is  _that_?" The Spartan eventually asked, his voice rumbling quietly. The Guardian shook his head furiously as he expertly shot down the shrieking creatures with striking precision, their bodies turning into dust.

"The Hive. They have invaded this world," the Ghost replied through the Guardian's suit eerily, seeming to have chosen to remain within the armour. "They and the Plague are one. Oryx will rise and destroy all that is Light."

It was cryptic and only succeeded in raising more questions rather than answer anything whatsoever. Oryx? The Hive? The Plague was probably the Flood.

Another shriek pierced the area Flood combat forms appeared with a levitating creature trailing behind them. It wore robes of varying shades of pale crimson and tan with an orange shield surrounding it; it shrieked angrily, the sound similar to those the grey ones except at a lower pitch.

As John focused on the Flood forms that were attacking, he almost failed to notice the way the new hostile raised its arms before it rapidly threw blue-and-white orbs of searing energy towards him. He rolled out of the way and turned just in time to see that the energy could, in fact, melt the surface which was metal. Which meant that it probably wasn't a good idea to get shot at by the creature. It swung its arm in a large arch and a dark green dome appeared, trapping him.

John felt like someone threw him underwater while simultaneously choking him out; he couldn't breathe and his movements were sluggish, his armour weighed more than it should. His lungs and eyes and mouth and limbs burned and stung, bile rising in his throat. Darkness crept around his vision as he tried to crawl out of the dome. Distantly, he heard another shriek and the creature went down, turning into embers and ash, then someone threw him out of the poisonous dome and as soon as he left it, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off him, he could see and breathe properly again.

He watched as the Guardian stumbled out of the fading dome, shaking his head to clear it before going over to the Spartan, tilting his head in a questioning manner.

"The first time's always the worst," the Ghost supplied helpfully. "Wizards usually miss their target though so I doubt you'll have any problems in the future. It's the Thralls and Knights you'll have to watch out for."

John grimaced, so there was a new enemy on the fronts, in league with the Flood, and it looked like they were ten times worse.

"What are they?" The two headed towards the lift, wiping out any remaining Flood spores that scrambled around, trying to find a host.

"Undead. Like creatures summoned from the ocean after a millennium of slumber. I didn't expect to see them  _here_. Something's warping around us, woke them up. Looks like they've got some kind of alliance with the Plague."

"Oryx?" He tested the word out, disliking the way the word felt so  _foreign_ on his tongue.

Descending from the lift, they watched as the Elites and Arbiter destroyed any combat forms and Thralls that attempted to enter the area, occasionally giving out battlecrys in response to the undead shrieking.

Over the comm. links, multiple platoons reported in seeing the strange creatures assisting the Flood, the Thralls' shrieking filling the air and interrupting them as they joined in on the assault, quite literally tearing a part any living thing that dared to stand in their way.

"Oryx hasn't been around for centuries. If it's him, he might've just sent one of his followers instead." The Guardian grunted as he jumped down from the lift, his own rendition of a battle rifle out and aiming around the quiet area cautiously. "Well, he's not a fixed point so it's a possibility. Nothing's happening on your neural network so you should be safe from the Hive, mentally speaking; I'll have Ephesians check out anything unusual if anything pops up."

Exiting the tower, they were met with an impossibly huge, dark red creature; its armour was all sharps and angles, three pale green eyes glowing from underneath the tri-horn helm. It wielded a crude claymore that looked like it was made of bones and glowed the same pale green as the eyes; it roared, swinging the sword down and causing a ripple of energy to make the soldiers stumble back momentarily save for the Guardian who counteracted against the sword by bringing up his forearms and using the spiked gauntlets to catch the blade.

 _Child of the Traveler's Light, you cannot hide._ A crude voice rumbled within John's mind as the Guardian struggled against the blade, knees beginning to buckle under the strain as the creature leaned forward, snarling with what looked to be a very deadly, malicious grin. The Spartan rounded on the tall, undead creature, shooting at its head which was responded to with a loud roar, the sword lifting from the Guardian's gauntlets and swung towards the Spartan who slid underneath it just as the Guardian shot at the edgy creature, watching with grim satisfaction as it dispersed into ash and with a fading roar.

Leaving the tower, some Separatist and Marine reinforcements was dropped off along with heavy vehicular firepower, prompting John to jump in the Scorpion, leading them through the tunnels towards the Citadel.

" _The Shipmaster's ship is out of commission,_ " Keyes explained. " _I need you to stop Truth. Punch through the cliffs and get inside that Citadel._ "

The Scorpion plowed through the suddenly snowy terrain, crushing Covenant, Ghosts, and Prowlers alike. The Mongooses and Warthogs followed behind, flourishing with their own weaponry, some Marines climbed out to pick up a Covenant heavy weapon and soon fuel rods were added into the mix of grenades and rockets.

Two Scarabs fell from the atmosphere just as the Scorpion entered the clearing; John looked over at the Guardian from his position in the seat of the Scorpion and said tersely, " _Don't_."

The Guardian growled in response but complied quietly, remaining in his seat on the tread of the Scorpion as it rounded on one of the closer Scarabs, shooting at its legs. It crouched down with a loud wail, turret shaking as it tried to pinpoint the vehicles driving around its legs to distract it.

"You get that one," John ordered and the Guardian nodded, jumping off the Scorpion and entering the Scarab without too much difficulty.

Turning the turret of the Scorpion, the Spartan focused on grounding the second Scarab permanently, the massive weapon entering the same state as its partner, turret swiveling wildly trying to pinpoint a target to shoot at. As John climbed into the Scarab, the one next to it gave a loud whine before exploding into its usual ball of blue and white plasma, bits and pieces of it raining down on the battlefield below. It didn't take long for the second Scarab to follow, the Spartan leaping out of it in a similar manner the Guardian had when he had teleported on to it. On a lighter side, the Spartan wasn't going to pass out unlike what happened to the Guardian.

The pair joined the Arbiter on the bridge, waiting for Guilty Spark to activate the light bridge to which they sprinted across it quickly. They had maybe literally minutes to spare and none of it could be wasted lagging around. Entering the structure, John made it to the door before She appeared, the first time in a long while, and she murmured,

" _They asked and I answered. For I am their salvation._ "

When She disappeared, the Prophet of Truth appeared on the holoscreens lining the walls, giving one last rousing speech.

" _My faithful, stand firm for we tread the blessed path. The presence of our God is righteous and whole and it is He who tells us so. Should He walk among us, we let Him tread freely so as to join us in this Great Journey. We will be delivered and join Him in **Paradise**._ " At this the Guardian snarled at the sight of Johnson and the sight of the rings being activated, white and blue energy began surrounding him, his form turning transparent.

"Guardian!" John exclaimed, jumping towards the other soldier but only had his hand pass through his fading form as the particles flew through the Citadel, reforming behind the Brute and Johnson. "Damn it!"

The Spartan and the Aribter activated the lift, the Prophet's rejoiced voice fading from below as they rose up into the actual Citadel itself. Stepping off the platform, they were stopped by a Flood Tank form and a ragged Hive Wizard, one hissing the familiar voice of the Gravemind and another hissing in a crude, croaky voice.

"Do  _not_ shoot but listen!" They crowed. "Let us lead you safely to the God and to prevent our  _doom_. Only you can assist He Who Dwells In Light for you and He have set in motion these chains of events that lead us here now."

John watched warily as Knights joined his side and Flood spores scuttled past his feet and Thralls shrieked while running past them and towards the controls of the Citadel. He looked over his shoulder at the Arbiter who merely gave him a pointed look before they faced the Citadel once more, stepping forward as temporary allies with the Flood and the Hive.

As they crossed the bridge, passing models of the Halo rings, the ground rumbled and the front of the Citadel lit up with pure light accompanied with an echoing bellow in a language too pure for anyone to comprehend. John and the Arbiter gave each other passing looks before bursting into a dead sprint to the controls, passing the Flood and Hive who feasted upon the carcasses of the Covenant, running across a light bridge in time to see a crashed Pelican with Johnson and Miranda huddled underneath it as if they had gone out on to a nice picnic for the day.

"Your friend's mighty pissed off," Johnson supplied, pointing to the elevated platform.

The two soldiers circled around it to see the Guardian partially ascending the steps, pure Light spilling from every crevice of his armour which seemed to have increased in size and became intricately decorated with incomprehensible symbols in a language never seen before. Faint tendrils of Light surrounded him and his hands were clawed, picking up the Prophet of Truth none too gently.

" _You are cursed, a liar, and a thief of those who seek salvation!_ " The behemoth roared, Light steadily growing brighter. " _You led many down a false path of death and destruction, seeking what was to be prevented and forgotten and made it used and remembered! Prophet of Lies, you have forsaken the Forerunners, the Patriarchs, and all who have Ascended before and after your people! As one reborn in the Light and Child of the Traveler, bearer of the Light itself, I entitle you an ally of the Darkness and purge you of your errs, violations, and sins through **death**. You will be forgotten and lost in the dark corners of space and time!_ "

Raising the clawed hand that didn't hold the Prophet, the Guardian plunged it through the belly of the alien, letting his Light spill into the creature; the Prophet's desperate screams and cries were muted as, eventually, he faded away into nothingness.

Simultaneously, the Light burst outwards, blinding everyone momentarily before fading, leaving the Guardian to collapse against the steps in exhaustion, head bowed as John ascended the platform and turned off the activation key, ultimately turning off the activation of the remaining Halos.

"You are truly the God that we speak so highly of," the Arbiter stated in awe, kneeling before the Guardian. "It is an honour to serve by your side, to be in your presence alone."

The Guardian stared at the Elite in confusion, still breathing harshly before looking up at John and then at the approaching forms of Johnson and Miranda.

"...what?" He asked softly, his voice low and a thunderous rumble despite how weak he sounded. He struggled to his feet, swaying heavily.

With that ground out, he fell forward, caught by John who had lunged forward so he wouldn't hit his head on the steps. The Ghost appeared almost immediately, hovering above the Guardian, taking multiple scans.

"That's all he needed," the AI stated quietly. "He transferred the Darkness into the Prophet...and purged the Conflux."

His eye flicked up, looking over at the stunned people gathered. "Just give him a few moments, this has never happened before."

"Will he remember?" Miranda asked in a concerned voice.

"What he did to the Prophet? No, he won't. The one who took down the Prophet was someone else. I believe it may have been the person he was in the past. Before he became a Guardian. It's a little sad, isn't it? You helped save the galaxy and you don't remember how. Or that you even did for that matter. He's been as confused as you are ever since we arrived. Give him some space." The Ghost disappeared once more as the Guardian stirred, groaning softly as John helped him back to his feet.

"I-" The Guardian paused but didn't get to continue as the ground rumbled once more, sickly green tendrils rising from below as low laughter bellowed from around them. The trio of soldiers got into a low crouch as Johnson and Miranda retreated into the Pelican, quickly activating it and attempting to fly out of the Citadel. John jumped onto one of the landing supports, catching the Arbiter with one hand while the Guardian grabbed on to the support; one of the tendrils swung at them, throwing them back on to the platform just as Johnson and Miranda took off, disappearing around the corner.

"Not even your  _God_ can save you; the Hive will weaken him. We will rise as one, the Darkness and I. Do not delay the inevitable, for your end has already long come to pass," the Gravemind warbled as the trio of warriors looked around fervently, eventually standing back-to-back together.

"We fight as one, brothers," the Arbiter encouraged as he activated his energy sword. The tendrils receded as Flood combat forms and Hive Thralls began to appear from behind the Citadel controls.

" _We_ _can barely keep hold of her, Chief!_ " Johnson barked over the comms. " _There's no way we can pick you up! Head back to the lift and find a way down!"_

A loud shriek filled the air, as if someone were dragged metal across metal, and a ship reminiscent of a sarcophagus appeared out of a green slipstream void, an orange light passed along the ground of the bridge and several smaller versions of the Hive Knights appeared along with more Thralls. Acolytes, the Ghost had supplied helpfully as they tore through the paper-like flesh of the Flood and bones of the Hive.

The Hive didn't move so erratically or in jerking movements, didn't show that they were, in fact, actually undead creatures; they move smoothly and with precision, they knew where they were going. True, the Flood was an intelligent life form, it could wield weapons but it was weak, the majority of it was cannon fodder, it connected to one mind, the Gravemind. The Hive, however, was trained, they were a regime, a military, they had a leader but they also had their own individual thoughts. They didn't need a host body to live. They showed their intelligence and they used it wisely; they crafted their own weapons, created their own ships, and developed their own technology, some of which John had never see the likes of it before.

Somehow, that type of undead was a lot more unnerving than the single mind that was the Flood.

While the Flood and Thralls launched forward, swinging at the trio of soldiers, the rest of the Hive reinforcements hung back, shooting at them with violet energy projectiles that washed over their shields. One of the Acolytes carried a rather large weapon that spat out blue-and-white energy in a large bolt that arched across the bridge, creating small explosions at their feet.

When the Hive were killed with precision, their bodies burst into ashes that floated among them. When they were killed by other conventional methods, their bodies collapsed, bursting into embers before fading away. John didn't know whether he truly killed them or if there was something calling them back so it could revive them; it was a very unnerving mystery to say in the least. Anything that was related to the Guardian was unnerving. It was an unknown and the Spartan  _hated_ going against something so  _blindly_.

By the display of raw power that the Guardian had exhibited, the Spartan could say that he was more than relieved to have the Guardian himself on his side. Should he had succumbed to the lies of the Covenant, John highly doubted the outcome would have been as neat as it was back at the controls of the Citadel.

Running across the bridge and into one of the rooms interrupting it, John scowled when his vision darkened once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian circling him protectively as She appeared once more.

" _But a thief - I keep what I steal,_ " She teased before disappearing again. John retaliated by shooting down a small squad of Acolytes huddled in a corner, watching as they burst into embers and then their ashes disappeared, dispersing in a hidden, unfeeling wind.

Seeing that the Spartan was back in action once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian fell into step next to him, creating an easy rhythm as they forged ahead, backtracking to the lift that would hopefully lead them outside of the Citadel.

Several Sentinels had appeared to assist them, their lasers easily striking down the Flood and Thralls. A Wizard's shields didn't really stand a chance against them despite the other weapons seemingly being useless. The shields probably reacted to heat as the Guardian's shotgun seemed to also prove effective against the fiery orange shields that surrounded the levitating creatures.

Clearing the area of Flood carrier forms, the three left the Sentinels to take care of the remaining Flood and Hive that entered the area, going behind the lift and entering a small chute that glowed a bright cerulean blue. They all landed next to each other, their hands free of weapons when they didn't spot an immediate threat.

Looking around, John spotted Cortana, or what he thought was Cortana, casually walking down a hall in the corner of his eye. The Spartan got up slowly, following after her at a leisurely pace.

"What do you see?" The Arbiter queried, mandibles clicking together when John didn't answer. The two, however, followed him, walking down the hall and towards a control panel. Activating it revealed a platform jutting over the edge just outside; walking on to it, the trio simultaneously peered over the edge curiously, watching in stunned silence as an unfinished Halo began rising from beneath the clouds.

"A replacement," the Arbiter finally stated, looking over at the Spartan. "For the ring you destroyed."

"When did you know?" John asked accusingly, causing the Guardian to step between them, in case he needed to break any upcoming fights. 343 Guilty Spark, however, chose the perfect time to appear and remark cheerfully,

"Just now." He hovered in front of the Arbiter and then the Spartan, "But, I had my hopes. What will you do?"

" _Light it_ ," John snapped, anger simmering beneath his voice. The Monitor nodded, as if in agreement, and then asked,

"And what would my Maker do?" He turned to the Guardian who stared back, his body tense. There wasn't a verbal answer, not this time; the Guardian opted to snarl menacingly and loudly at the AI, making his irritation known as he swatted at him angrily. The AI, however, simply floated out of the Guardian's reach, beaming.

"I see! I agree with what you say! A tactical location and activating it will eradicate the local infestation!" Spark said happily, circling the trio before beginning to fly off towards the levitating ring. "I will personally see the final preparations. I am glad to know that the action has finally been approved of."

"How will you light it?" The Arbiter asked as soon as the Monitor was gone. John simply looked over to where High Charity had crashed, the other two following his gaze.

"I will return to my ship with Johnson and Keyes and meet you there," the Arbiter announced when the idea finally dawned in his mind. "I wish you luck on finding your Construct." The Elite turned, heading back into the Citadel while hailing a Phantom to pick him up.

"Great, we're going back into the scary space city," the Guardian's Ghost mumbled as he appeared over the man's shoulder. "Question is: how're we going to get there?" The Guardian looked over at the small AI, murmuring something too low for John's enhanced hearing to pick up. "Yes, yes, I think he can fit."

"What?" John asked, furrowing his brow beneath the helmet when the Ghost came over and began casting his strange blue beam over his armour. "What are you doing?"

"I'm uploading you to the transmat system. We can take the Guardian's ship over to the crashed city," the Ghost whistled in explanation smoothly. "Alright, took a bit to decrypt some areas but you're in. Let's go." The world flashed before him and he closed his eyes, the sight disorienting, and he didn't open them until he heard the sound of boots on solid ground and the soft hum of an engine.

Looking around, he observed that the ship was relatively small, containing a loadout room with a wall separating it from the rest of the ship. A bed and a closet was built into the wall and a lavatory sat off to the right of the small area. The front of the ship had a pilot's chair and several screens set up, surrounding the window that gave a view of the High Charity ahead of them; the Ghost flitted about, whistling and toying with several controls on the dashboard which contained devices and dials that John couldn't really care more or less about.

The Guardian had gone into the loadout room, checking over a weapons' locker leisurely, acknowledging the Spartan when he entered the room after him. John watched curiously as the Guardian replaced his rocket launcher with the cheery AI machine gun John had seen the Guardian use back in the jungles of Africa, placing it on the workbench below him as he sifted through other weapons.

"Hi there!" The gun chirped in a child-like voice and manner, managing to flop on its side when it saw John. "I've seen you a couple of times! You look like a Titan but Cal says you're not!"

"Cal...?" John rose a brow at the name and watched as the gun rolled over, falling on to the Guardian who absentmindedly pushed it away, farther down the bench and more in front of John.

"My friend who picked me up out of a box on Mars! His full name is kinda hard for me to say so I like to call him Cal! He doesn't like it but it's fun to say! He's really nice too, gave me cool upgrades and made me more stronger!" It felt like he was talking to a child which certainly made the Spartan feel a little bit out of his league; he was never good with children, always thought himself to be too gruff for them.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Super Good Advice but everyone calls me Adi!" John's eyes flicked over to the Guardian who had settled with a new set of weapons, a rifle that had a bird-like skull on the end and a large, black revolver - both of which had green gas flowing out of them - a jagged, red-and-steel sniper rifle, and the chirpy gun and an ornate white-and-bronze rocket launcher. The Guardian had opted to lean against the workbench, arms crossed, and watched the conversation with slight amusement radiating off his person.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117," John answered gruffly and automatically. The AI went silent for a moment before speaking up in a confused tone,

"Um, that's kind of...long? All of you organics seem to have all these fancy names, it's really hard for me to keep track of them! Can I call you Sierra?" That was a first and the gun sounded genuine. A gun. Sounding. Genuine. A gun that talks. Somewhere out there in the galaxy, someone thought it was a great idea to stick an AI into a machine gun.

This was really getting to John's head and he blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his neck and head to make sure that, yes, he wasn't going insane and there was a gun talking to him.

"Yes."

"Oh cool!" A moment of silence passed over them until John's curiosity got the better of him.

"Why 'Super Good Advice'?" The gun, if at all even physically  _possible_ , seemed to have perked up.

"Because when we're in battle, I can give  _really_ great tactical information and spot enemies that you can't!" John looked over at the Guardian skeptically who actually nodded in agreement with a slight shrug that read,  _Saved my life a few times even._

"Alright, you two, we're just about there. I see a place where I can drop you off, better get ready," the Ghost announced, interrupting the conversation as he flew into the room.

"Hi, Ghost!"

"Hello, Adi." The Guardian turned back to the weapons' locker and opened it once more, pulling out a white, smooth rifle with a large bayonet attached to it; facing the Spartan, the Guardian held it out towards him expectantly.

"What's this?" The Spartan looked down at the weapon, silently admiring it's design but unsure whether or not he should take the weapon.

"Thank you," the Guardian said nonchalantly, holding out the weapon a little farther.

"For what?" Silence passed over them as the Guardian seemed to mull over his words before stating simply,

"Everything." Slowly, John took the weapon, aiming down the sights appreciatively and when he looked back up, the Guardian also presented him the machine gun.

"I'm your gift, too!" Adi chirped. "He never says more than five words so I'm gonna say them for him! He's really, really grateful that you haven't left him alone and that you were willing to work with him! He likes you, you're his friend, so he wants to give you gifts because he doesn't know how else to show his gratitude! I'm your gift! I like you, too, Sierra!"

John stared at the gun before looking over at the Guardian who still held out the weapon expectantly once more. The words felt strange to hear; the Guardian, a man that the Spartan didn't know existed until a couple of months ago - or was it weeks? -, who stood valiantly by his side and without question, aiding him in his long-term mission, and turned out to quite possibly be some type of Forerunner God, was now considering him...a  _friend_.

"It's an honor to have met you," John finally stated, taking the second weapon, relieved by how truthful it sounded, how it felt to say that. It certainly was warming.

"Now that we've got the ceremony out of the way," the Ghost spoke up impatiently, causing the two soldiers to face him, "you might want to bend your knees a little, the transmat tends to set you a few feet above the ground." With that said, the ship flashed around him and John bent his knees as the Ghost told him to, landing on the ground softly.

Looking around the fleshy interior, John listened as the ship sped away and back into orbit while Miranda reported,

" _Chief, I'll fallback with the survivors, take them to the Dawn._ " Dropping down into a hole, they peered around the large area they fell into, cautious of the sudden silence that surrounded them." _The Arbiter will do the same with the Elites._ "

"Cortana's _in there somewhere,_ " Johnson added as some kind of words of encouragement although it did little to inspire. John already had his hopes rather high in the thought of finding his lost friend.

The place was completely unrecognizable, no longer the contouring beauty of years of architect but rather, it was now several weeks worth of rotting flesh and infection, the area filled with a retching haze that made it through the suit and nearly made the Spartan gag. He'd never get used to that stench.

But the place hadn't fallen wholly under the control of the Flood. Gothic-like structures recycled from the metal of High Charity protruded from several places in the flesh, pale green torches lit several corners of the area but rather than cast a comforting light, it seemed to have only made the place darker and eerier. Small grey and grey-green spores grew with the large, swollen spores on the walls, and they seemed to breathe as they pulsed gently. The Hive didn't fail to make High Charity their home as well.

"I've picked up a faint signal," the Ghost reported, hovering over the Guardian's shoulder while he marked a small grey rhombus as the navpoint. "Could be her, the algorithms match from when we first met and the diarchs readout wholly artificial. Worth checking out."

The pair traversed the fleshy tunnels, stepping over and on the infection spores that seemed to be running around. Coming across a small chasm, they didn't wait for the spores to grab a host and proceeded to curb stomp on the already infected bodies that were littered around; several had managed to grab one before they reached it and John used his new rifle for the first time, the bullets - upon firing - seemed to be glowing white and tore through the ligaments of the dead combat forms, downing it quickly. It had a powerful recoil but nothing John couldn't handle; it certainly fired a lot more quickly than the average assault rifle or plasma rifle, the ammo counter indicated that it had four more bullets than the assault rifle and as insignificant as those four bullets were now, John had a feeling they'd be some kind of lifesaver later on.

Reloading the weapon, the Spartan was surprised to see a new clip magnetized to his hip, 'surprising' in the sense that he never grabbed any extra clips. Dropping the current magazine in the rifle, he slowly reloaded, looking down at the empty spot and tilted his head when he saw another one appear where the first one previously was.

"The Guardian asked me to upgrade it so the weapon would automatically synthesize suitable ammo from weapons lying around because you don't have someone to synthesize the ammo for you," the Ghost explained when he noticed the Spartan staring at the ammunition. "We got the idea from abandoned schematics and Guilty Spark when we located those terminals. Also, I scavenged those sentries, everything's been useful in the long run."

"So...unlimited ammunition?" John asked as they continued on through the chasm, taking out a small swarm of infection spores and Thralls that ran after them.

"That's the idea, yes. Sometimes the ammo won't synthesize because it doesn't register the extra ammunition or weapons in your radius and because it's a work in progress, I can work out the kinks along the way. Maybe Cortana could help when we find her." When. John took note of the fact that Ghost had said 'when' and not 'if'. That, in itself, was a kind of relief for the Spartan; he wasn't the only one who knew that they would find her. Cortana couldn't leave him  _that_ easily.

Passing through the fleshy barrier that led deeper into High Charity, John groaned when a massive wave of pain hit his head and his vision narrowed, shuddering violently as the Gravemind rumbled,

" _Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness but for the sins cast to his son._ " As his vision faded back into normalcy, he looked over at the Guardian to see the man's head bowed although it seemed to be that his own vision had passed. Was it this so-called Darkness the Ghost spoke of often? The Hive?

Jumping down a loud hatch clearly of Hive-make, they hit the fleshy ground with a wet thud just as John's sight went dim once more but it wasn't the Gravemind that wasn't invading. This time, it was Her. She was crying into Her hands, having sunk to the ground on Her knees, whimpering in pain. It  _hurt_ to see Her like that, to see that She was pushed to a limit, to a point where She was actually able to  _feel_ it.

He gripped his rifle a little tighter at the thought, grimacing as he marched forward with renewed energy. That son of a bitch Gravemind was going to  _pay_ for torturing Her like that.

A loud shriek pierced the still, infectious air and Acolytes appeared with Flood combat forms and pure forms scuttling around, heading towards them at an alarming rate. John pulled out Adi who proceeded to trill in joy just as the Spartan unleashed it's bulleted glory all over the undead enemies.

The Guardian had taken to climbing one of the fleshy pillars, taking out pure forms before they could fully transform, and any Acolytes that carried the dangerously explosive weapons with the rifle that had the bird skull on it.

"On your left!" Adi shrieked and the Spartan turned, rolling to the side just in time to dodge a ground shuddering punch from an incoming Tank form.

"Oh my shit, what is that  _thing_?!" John didn't answer it as he fired the entire belt on the Tank form, dodging around it when it tried to bodily swing itself at him, and occasionally, he turned to take down approaching Thralls and combat forms.

"I've found a flamethrower, highlighting it on your HUD now!"

Through a fleshy wall, a yellow outline appeared. Following it, John found that it led outside on a small platform where a Pelican had crashed, bodies littering the area; pushing off the corpse of a Marine, he picked up the highlighted weapon and turned to face a horde of Thralls and a trio of Tanks that came crashing through the Gothic pillars, lighting them up with the hungry flames that lapped at them incessantly. He beat them back, stepping over the smouldering corpses and entering the city once more with a crown of flames adorning those who got too close.

As the battle came down from the climax, the two soldiers wandered around, smashing any corpses that remained intact so that they couldn't play host to any infection forms that scuttled around, trying to give twisted life to them.

Creeping upwards, through a narrow tunnel, they entered through another section of the ship only to be stopped by the mental presence of the Gravemind once more, teasing the Spartan as the realisation of his mission finally dawned on it.

" _Of **course** you came for  **Her**. We exist  **together**  now. Two corpses in one grave._" They continued on, refusing to relent to the words when Cortana's voice began echoing around them in a sickly sweet voice.

" _Immaculate lies, that's all I am,_ " She groaned. " _Stolen thoughts and memories._ " The Gravemind taunted relentlessly, his words were mumbled but what would have been a low rumble of laughter turned into Cortana's maniacal cackling before fading into the deep recesses of High Charity.

The pair remained deathly silent as they continued deeper into the abandoned city, refusing to either disturb the restless infection or to avoid talking about what invaded their minds, John knew it was one of the two.

Jumping through what would have been a lift, they landed on the floor below, it looked vaguely familiar to the Spartan despite being over run by spores and dark, Gothic structures. It was lit by the dim green fires, casting a mournful glow around the room and highlighting silhouettes of combat forms, scattered around the room, John could spot the small, pale green shimmers of the Hive's eyes.

As they battled against the Flood and Hive, John was quite sure that he could hear Cortana rambling to Herself but the sound of battle was too loud for him to properly make sense of what she was saying. He figured that they must be getting close and it renewed his vigor to find her once more as he threw a Brute Shot at a Tank form, the blade slicing neatly through the infected creature.

" _You like games! So do I._ " It's what he managed to hear as the Flood and Hive dwindled and he knew that it wasn't Cortana speaking but rather Doctor Halsey. He remembered all those years ago when he first met her, when she showed him that old disk, testing his luck. Her tone was always so different from Cortana, more maternal and stern, and he knew that Cortana was sifting through Her memories now.

Ascending out of the room, he heard Cortana cry out,

" _I'm just a **shadow**! Don't look at me! Don't look at me! I'm not real!_ "

Pure forms blocked their path, consistently changing between Stalkers and Tanks, scuttling away from them at the last moment when they were deemed to have gotten too close. Spikes attempted to pierce their shields and long hardy limbs attempted to bash in their armour but to no avail.

The Gravemind returned when they finished the small fight, it's anger was evident but did little to rock their demeanour or courage.

" _Time has taught me patience!_ " It roared, " _I am asking for a new freedom! I will know all that I **POSSESS**!_ "

The Guardian scoffed quietly next to him as they entered a large area filled with multiple floors; the Spartan speculated that this was probably the centre of the city where the main lift would be. Peering over the edge, John jumped back when a stream of violet energy flew up to meet him, brushing against his shields momentarily.

"That's a Hallowed Ogre down there!" Adi chirped helpfully, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "I recommend burning it or using some kind of elemental in general to damage it; it'll die a lot quicker that way!" As the AI gun said this, the Guardian threw down his bolt grenade, relishing in the angered cries that came up from below.

Carefully peering over the edge this time, John speculated the giant creature; it had armour reminiscent of the usual Hive wear that he was getting used to seeing now, it didn't have any eyes, rather, it's head looked rather swollen with small orbs pulsating softly beneath it. When it roared and fired the violet beam once more, it came from it's head and John leaned back once more to avoid it before throwing down a pair of incendiary grenades he had swiped off a couple of dead Brute Stalkers.

As it roared in pain, John leaned over once more, using Adi to give additional damage to it; the Guardian joined in with his revolver, the Ogre lighting up with green whenever the bullets struck it and it eventually disintegrated with a fading roar, one last bolt of violet energy flying to meet them but was easily avoided.

Sweeping the rest of the area of Hive, they exited the large area into one of the corridors that was connected to it with a flesh-like door. They walked through the dim hallways, poised for any more threats that dared to try and ambush them.

" _I have dared to walk to the edge of the abyss!_ " Cortana cried suddenly, Her voice heavily distorted, Her face flashing in front of the Spartan's face. He recognised the vision as when She sent the message of the Ark to him. " _I have seen the future and I have **burned**!_ "

" ** _SUBMIT_** _!_ " The Gravemind invaded with an angered bellow. " _End her torment and my own!_ "

It was getting impatient, furious at their progress, and doing everything it could to break one of their minds. The only reaction it really elicited was a grumble from the Guardian and a hidden scowl from the Spartan as they continued on, splashing through some coolant as they veered off the path and into Flood-made halls instead.

They entered another impossibly large room but this time, John recognised it as one of the engine rooms that had managed to keep the city abroad in space. Or what was left of it, there were only several delicate bridges connected to various ends of the enormous room, the rest had suffered under the weight of the Flood and the Hive infestation. A loud whine filled the room, echoing eerily, and the pair watched as one of the pistons eventually exploded, having overheated.

They sprinted across the bridges when the Ghost pointed out that they were getting relatively close to Cortana's position, avoiding the Flood and The Hive alike. There was nothing more important than this now.

Entering the only door that was unlocked, Cortana appeared once more but Her voice was heavily distorted to the point it was unrecognisable and incoherent but it was soon taken over by an angry Gravemind who growled out, " _You **will** show me what She  **hides**! For I shall feast upon your  **bones**!_ "

John bit back words of retaliation, letting the Guardian snarl angrily at the voice as it retreated once more while they entered where the navpoint ended, revealing a small, cramped room ignited by a single holotank, a shield having been formed around it.

The Ghost flew forward as the Guardian and Spartan surrounded the tank. John punched in the stasis shield that blocked his way from the AI and stared down at it while the Ghost took several scans.

"Where is she?" He snapped, seeing that all that was there was a small, cerulean crystal. "You said she was here!"

"And she is!" The Ghost replied just as harshly. "But she's not  _here_ , not in this  _world_. She activated some kind of failsafe and it transported her elsewhere. Hold still." The AI flew up to the Spartan, scanning his head while whistling in understanding. " _I_ see. She's activated some kind of hidden neural network that's been dormant in your brain and hid in there. How she managed to wake it up without proper protocols or procedures or even manage to reach you from such a distance is unknown to me."

"'Neural network'?"

"The neural network is a type of neural science that Guardians and their Ghosts use to stay in contact with each other as well as with other Guardians or creatures of the Light. It's also how the Guardians don't die. When they do, they're transported into a world between life and death conjured by the neural sciences and the Light itself and they have to find their Ghost, their Light, in order to be revived. We call it the Other side and that's where Cortana is."

"How do we get in there?" Ghost hesitated momentarily, eye flickering for a moment before he began slowly,

"I could have my Guardian enter the Other side by removing himself but I don't know how you could enter. I could attempt to integrate your neural network with Cortana's and then transfer it into the Other side; it won't make you a creature of the Light but it does mean that you could, essentially, have the ability to be revived if killed as well but it'll only work when we find Cortana."

"If it doesn't work?"

"You'll die. The Guardian could get Cortana out but the process will have made you permanently brain-dead." John was silent for a moment, looking over at the crystal that was supposedly Cortana before looking over at the Guardian.

"If I don't make it out, you take care of Cortana, you understand?" He eventually asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I understand," the Guardian rumbled, taking out his black magnum once more.

"So you'll attempt the integration process?" Ghost asked with a low whistle.

"If it'll get me Cortana, I'll do it."

"Alright then." Ghost looked over at the Guardian. "You go on ahead and enter the Other side, wait for us at the Conflux, and tell Ephesians what we're doing."

The Guardian nodded and put the sidearm underneath his chin where his lower jaw hollowed out and unceremoniously pulled the trigger, making John flinch slightly at the sudden, frighteningly smooth movement; bright white fluid escaped him as his head jerked violently and he fell on to his side with a thud, weapon clattering to the floor as the white, glowing blood pooled around him, coating the Spartan's boots.

John's eyes were wide behind his helmet: the Guardian was completely  _willing_ to commit suicide to enter this Other side, the amount of trust that he had in his Ghost was insurmountable, completely  _insane_. The fact that the Guardian had done it because he wanted to help find Cortana made John almost shiver at the thought. This man was sacrificial and didn't hesitate to remind people of that fact.

"Please hold still, close your eyes, and clear your mind," the Ghost ordered, turning to John as if nothing had happened. His nonchalant attitude at the fact that his Guardian just  _committed suicide_ was the most disturbing and unnerving thing the Spartan had ever witnessed to date, how many times have they done this?

Nonetheless, the Spartan obeyed the AI, closing his eyes and waited patiently to be transferred. Around him, he listened intently but couldn't necessarily hear anything, the sounds became muted, muffled, and unclear. Then they disappeared entirely. A sense of peacefulness overwhelmed his being and he felt weightless as if he were in zero-gee but it felt more...calming and gentle. A chill wind seemed to bypass his armour and he shivered underneath it momentarily as gentle chiming entered his hearing, it echoed around the area quietly.

" _You can open your eyes now,_ " an unfamiliar voice said and he did so slowly. Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of spacious, stone temple. It looked ancient and his vision seemed to have adopted some kind of grey-blue and teal colour. He took a step back and nearly fell off an edge and into a glowing white abyss below.

" _Careful now! I know, this place can be a little disorienting what with being out of space and time,_ " the voice stated cheerfully. Looking around, his gaze met a pair of glowing golden eyes which were a part of a dark purple android who wore a bright aqua robe, the collar flaring up and covering a large portion of their face, and seemed to be wearing bone armour that looked startlingly similar to the Hive.

" _You all good? Good!_ " They stated in a bright, synthesized voice as a helmet made out of bone formed around their face. " _We didn't get introduced properly because I was a vague outline in the real world the first and last time we met._ " The android held out a hand in a warm greeting.

" _Hello there, my name is Ephesians-44, I'm an Exo Warlock Guardian! Welcome to the Other side, Master Chief, the land between life and death! I'll be your kind of dead guide for this particular journey!_ "

" _Where's the other Guardian?_ " John asked gruffly as he met the Exo's hand with a firm handshake.

" _Callixtus is hanging out by the Conflux,_ " the new Guardian jerked a thumb over their shoulder, pointing at a large stone-metal pillar that levitated in the centre of the area. Sitting near the base of it was the Guardian - Callixtus was apparently his name.

John approached the Guardian slowly although he made sure his presence was known; he stood behind him, quietly admiring the power that seemed to resonate from the device.

" _It did not alarm you, did it?_ " the Guardian asked suddenly, his voice resonating throughout the area, smooth and low.

" _You committing suicide? Yes._ " A low laugh vibrated the air as the Guardian got to his feet.

" _I do not do it often, I promise._ " Walking over to the Spartan, the Guardian patted his shoulder lightly before holding out a hand and saying, " _Now that I can properly speak, I ought to reintroduce myself. Titan Guardian Callixtus, Time's Conflux. It has been an honour to work by your side, Spartan._ "

" _I'm glad you joined us. W_ _hat stopped you from talking before?_ " John couldn't help but ask, giving him a proper nod as he gave another firm handshake.

" _I was tasked with taking down a Hive General named Omnigul and she caught my throat. Hurts to speak but I can get a word out here and there when I am alive._ " A moment of silence passed and then the Guardian-no, Callixtus began to walk towards Ephesians. " _Come now, let us find Cortana, Spartan._ "

John paused for a moment, lagging behind Callixtus before choosing to say,

" _I'm glad you'll help. Also, friends of mine call me John._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rezzing is a tactic, guys, I swear.


	8. One Man's Epilogue - Master Chief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "All ends are beginnings."

" _No weapons._ " Ephesians was adamant, managing to fix a withering glare on to the Spartan.

" _What_." The 'why does Ephesians have them then' went unspoken and it rang silently in the air as John stared blankly at the pair of Guardians that stood in front of him. Callixtus tilted his head slightly before he stepped forward,

" _Our weapons are tailored to us and we are still tied to the living world. Ephesians is...in all senses, dead. They have no Ghost to revive them, their Light exists somewhere in the world but it does not form their being, as such, it is rendered useless and he - dead. Therefore, they are able to access the weapons they died with. If we were to use our weapons against the Vex in here, it would pass through them._ "

" _That's ridiculous_ _. Even for the both of you._ " John bristled slightly when this was met with a mere shrug.

" _Law of the Universe!_ " Ephesians piped up eventually as the trio of soldiers continued walking through the Vault of Glass - it's what the two called it apparently, a memory of a fixed point in time although Callixtus had explained that it was quite possibly more complicated than that. John refused the details. " _If it doesn't belong then it won't work! Everything's got a place! It's the gist of the Law, anyways, I won't get into any of the technicalities, but if you stay in here long enough, the Laws'll come to you._ "

Silence brushed over them gently while the three of them walked through an empty labyrinth, shoulder-to-shoulder, and keeping an ear out for any enemies that could ambush them at any moment.

Ephesians had explained them as an elite hivemind of artificial intelligences called the Vex; they were creatures "so evil that they despised other evil" according to Callixtus's own explanation.

" _But could we **destroy**  them?_" John asked to fill the uncomfortable silence around them; it wasn't really silent, something chimed off in the distance but it was eerie enough to make everyone go on edge.

" _With combined effort, yeah, you could. Goblins and Harpies aren't that difficult to take down. Hobgoblins can be a pain in the ass if you let them enter their defensive mode first but other than that, they're pretty easy to kill. You really have to watch out for the Minotaurs, they teleport every three seconds and have one hell of a swing._ " Ephesians had taken out a yellow rifle and was waving it around precariously as they explained the potential enemies the trio could face.

" _Considering they are products of Atheon,_ " Callixtus said softly. Unlike in the actual world, in here, his voice was a low thrum: gentle, smooth, and almost melodic and hypnotizing, the type that counteracted the unnerving melody that surrounded them, giving his partners some comfort as they walked, " _they will probably be Precursors. Slightly harder to harm._ "

Exiting the labyrinth, the group of super-soldiers came across a clearing where the platforms dipped low into the white abyss and the distorted music began getting louder. Passing underneath and into an alcove, the music sang on a sharp tone in one particular spot in front of a bronze pillar and Callixtus glared at it pointedly before briskly walking away from it, relic pulsing in response to the music gently until it was a decent distance away from whatever was there. John gave Ephesians a questioning look but only received a small gesture that the Spartan read as,

_Don't question it. Not yet._

A small hill ascended above the area at the end of the platforms, a simple dirt path occasionally obstructed by stone and metal. Following the path, the distorted music and the murky teal tint began to lift - a light sparked in the distance, signalling the end of the Vault that they had been wandering around in.

" _Huh_ ," Ephesians hummed when they exited out of a large maw of a cave and into a dense forest and John's vision went from teal to gold. Several structures arched through the trees and at the foremost, tallest structure sat a small light on top of a gold bell. " _I don't remember this being here. It usually leads out to the Pantheon, sometimes the Shores or Garden_."

" _His neural network has awakened,_ " Callixtus supplied, gesturing to John. " _This is a memory of his. I do not recognize this area myself._ "

Of course the Spartan remembered this place.

It was the playground that he and his other Spartan siblings were introduced to when they were initially brought into the program. Looking over his shoulder, he half expected to see the base in the distance but instead, the gaping entrance to the Vault glowered back at him, the teal light winking deep in the cave. Gazing back to the playground, he noticed that the platforms and ropes and ladders and everything in between blurred and shifted, changing into the multitude of forms that John remembered. Every time the Spartans went to the playground, the instructors had changed the layout leading to the bell which always stayed in the same place. Many combinations existed and now he was watching all of them shift before his eyes.

" _I bet twenty glimmer that's her at the top of the bell,_ " Ephesians said with a chuckle, pointing to the distorted cerulean glow glitching above the golden bell.

" _I have already lost five hundred to Ghost, please do not do this to me,_ " Callixtus groaned, a small handful of glowing blue units appearing in his hands momentarily before disappearing.

" _That's because everyone chooses the winning side before you even know what's going on and besides, you're one of the richest Guardians of all time_.  _You never buy **anything**  for yourself._" The Titan chuffed softly at the explanation, not bothering to retort before turning to John.

" _It would be best if you retrieved Cortana, her matrix is tailored to your neural network. This will guarantee that you will come back alive. Also, you can navigate this...playground a whole lot easier than us probably._ " The Spartan looked over at the shifting equipment before giving a slight shrug - more than likely, even if they were constantly changing, there was a pattern he could find and use, all the different variations of the playground were ingrained in his mind.

" _Could it hold the weight?_ " John asked, seeing as that was his only concern. The equipment, as he recalled, was flimsy - scrap metal and wood and rope, pretty much what was left of some long past construction project.

" _If you think it can, it will,_ " Callixtus replied, giving the Spartan a gentle pat on the shoulder.

With that in his mindset, John started forward, climbing up a rope ladder that seemed to enlarge to allow his frame to actually climb the thing. Jogging across a metal bridge that changed into a single line of rope, he looked down to see Callixtus and Ephesians following along from below, looking around the area to make sure nothing came against them.

Looking up, John set his sights on the glitch above the bell although now that he was closer, he quietly swore that the glitching matrix was surrounding something rather than being an actual glitch. Having his gaze fixed on the glitch, he nearly fell when the platform changed into a swinging rope which he quickly grabbed and swung across and landed on the next platform which quickly transformed into metal that warped underneath the weight of the suit and man, his train of thought momentarily disturbed.

" _Careful!_ " Ephesians warned, receiving a withering look from Callixtus and a blank stare from John before the Spartan continued on.

Ascending a tilted rope that quickly turned into a horizontal ladder, John kept his eyes on the glitching matrix, holding on tightly to the ever-changing rope and wooden ladder, the wood splintering beneath his grip whenever it changed. Eventually, he managed to reach the platform below the golden bell, scaling the pole and reaching for the matrix.

Slowly, the glitching matrix shifted, glow dying down to a soft pulse as the pixels and distortion slowly slid apart, revealing a deep blue mandrake flower.

" _You found me_ ," Cortana sighed, her voice coming from the flower itself as John cradled it gently in his hands. Almost immediately, the area was swarmed with loud, irate, distorted music and loud, whining whirrs.

" _Get down here!_ " Callixtus yelled as dark clouds settled over the forest and the playground, lightning crackling from within. " _The Vex are here! And they brought Oracles! They want Cortana!_ "

The Spartan quickly complied, making his way down the changing platforms just as platoons of synthetics appeared, immediately turning and beginning to fire red bolts at the three soldiers - John barreled through a large group, launching off the edge of a platform and landing on the ground in a smooth roll between Callixtus and Ephesians. They turned on their heels and bolted towards the entrance of the Vault, dodging and plowing through the synthetics.

Ephesians turned, throwing a fiery grenade into a large crowd before raising the yellow rifle and providing covering fire with the flaming weapon. Ahead of John, Callixtus brought up the relic on his arm, charging up the power just as the music became fixed on one point and burst out into bright, gold-green light. The Light from the relic burst forth just as it appeared intoning one loud note and it obliterated the gold-green light, making it burst into small shards before it shrank back in itself and disappeared completely.

" _You see one, you punch the hell out of it!_ " Callixtus explained over the din of battle. " _Do not let those things sing!_ "

" _Understood,_ " John said, bringing the mandrake flower closer to his chest with one hand as he reached out and swatted one of the Vex aside when it attempted to grab him.

" _Watch it, there's Hobgoblins!_ " Ephesians warned and Callixtus turned sharply, bringing his relic arm around John's head in time to reflect a thin bolt.

" _Damn shield is not charging fast enough_ ," Callixtus seethed, helmet nearly knocking into John's own as he looked down at the shorter man before he pulled back and began leading the way into the Vault. " _Ephesians?_ "

" _You get that AI flower out of the Other side and things should settle down - they always react violently when you guys pick 'em and don't leave. They get the flower, they can tear the entire place down across the whole timeline and that means permanent death!_ " Ephesians said over a comm. link as a loud explosion signaled more grenades being thrown. " _I can stop most of them but those Oracles spawn where they want - I can't do anything about them if they appear past me since they don't travel like the other Vex! Get to the Templar's Well, the tangible Vex usually stop their assault there and we can concentrate on the Oracles!_ "

The Warlock turned back to the fight in the forest just as John and Callixtus descended back into the Vault, Callixtus taking out any wandering Vex that attempted to block their path as the teal vision overtook the gold light once more and settled them into a murky atmosphere - it felt like being underwater. As the pair descended the hill, deeper into the Vault, and into the middle of the Templar's Well, Callixtus began to around anxiously, apparently distressed that the Oracles had stopped singing in the small area.

" _Oracles are best fought in groups,_ " the Titan said eventually, not bothering to look over at John who had been shooting him an inquisitive gaze. " _They are just as bad as Gorgons - you can avoid Gorgons and their gaze but you cannot avoid an Oracle once it has made its presence known though you can avoid their mark by purifying yourself with this. If the shield is in working order by then._ " He gestured to the relic on his arm which pulsed softly in the teal light.

" _Thank Kabr for that thing!_ " Ephesians' voice echoed down to the pair as they descended the hill leading to the Templar's Well. " _Area's clear up there - haven't seen an Oracle. Maybe they ran off?_ " Callixtus radiated an air of skepticality at this comment, giving a pointed look towards his friend who merely shrugged.

" _Doubtful but we should take advantage of it and get the flower to the Conflux. Closer we are to the source of the arrival, the better the chances of him getting out,_ " Callixtus eventually replied after a moment of thoughtful and tense silence. " _I will see that John leaves and then I will go and find my Ghost. We linger any longer here, I fear not only the Vex will manage to get us._ "

And just like that, John was slammed with the remembrance that this was - in fact - elsewhere and he was technically not in his body anymore. Last he recalled, his body was probably just laying in the middle of an infested High Charity; having this thought come across his mind in a sudden flurry, the Spartan began to feel a bit uneasy until a hidden wind picked up and Cortana's flower brushed against his arm.

Looking down, he gazed at the small blue plant - purple veins interrupted the smooth petals, pulsing a soft cerulean color and somewhere deep inside him, he thought he could hear Cortana humming. She was there, this was real, and he needed to get her  _out_.

" _Let's get going then - we don't need to motivate the Vex any further,_ " Ephesians remarked lightly as they led the way back to the Conflux. The trio proceeded through the stone tunnel, past the two empty gates, and stopped where the glass and metal met near the back of the Vault; the Conflux waited patiently, humming softly at their presence when they neared it.

" _The Conflux should give you and Cortana the necessary power to reawaken - after that, let us hope that you will not show up here again,_ " Callixtus explained calmly, circling the pillar.

The Spartan approached the Conflux, standing close enough that he didn't have to lift his arm all the way to actually touch it. Almost immediately, the mandrake reacted to the presence of the Conflux, Light swirling around the delicate flower before it began to dance around the Spartan. It was a slightly slow process but it would lead him out nonetheless.

As soon as the Light began to engulf the Spartan, a loud drone sounded throughout the area - Callixtus made his way to the front of the Conflux as Ephesians began descending the stairs, bright weapon in hand as they were suddenly wreathed in flames, wings forming, stretching out magnificently.

In the distance, at the entrance of the labyrinth, John watched in awe and slight horror as a large, white-and-silver Vex began making its way through, surrounded by Harpies and smaller versions of itself. Oracles began singing as Ephesians engaged with the smaller Vex in the limited battlefield while Callixtus positioned himself protectively in front of the Spartan, swinging his relic in front of his body.

The large Vex paused at the edge of the platform it stood on and pointed at the Titan, a low rumbling emanating from it. Callixtus growled back before the relic landed firmly to the side, his next words being ominous and chilling as he bellowed,

" _I have the Aegis and I am the Conflux - you cannot win, Atheon! You will forever be lost in the dark corners of space and time!_ "

The large Vex, Atheon, let out a mechanical roar just as an Oracle intoned its presence and John made a move to help but was pushed back by Callixtus.

" _Go! We will hold out here until you get out - if you do not see me resurrect after you gain Cortana, just leave me!_ "

Turning back to the mandrake, the Spartan silently prompted her to move faster - he felt doubt, pain, and fear radiating from it, as if the flower didn't want to leave, to turn back into Cortana.

" _You know me,_ " he murmured as the sounds of battle behind him steadily grew more aggressive, " _when I make a promise-_ "

* * *

He blinked.

That's all he could do for the moment before the Light cleared from his eyes and they adjusted to the sudden darkness that surrounded him - he found himself staring at the ground, body having gone lax and collapsed when he left.

"You keep it," Cortana's voice sounded softly from above, prompting the Spartan to climb to his knees, leaning against the cortex, glancing at the small hologram that was his friend. "I  _do_ know how to pick 'em."

"I remember-" she began, getting to her feet, "I remember, hiding in your memories and then- I saw you - and two others. I knew who one of them was. You called him a friend." She looked around the Spartan, eyes widening momentarily at the corpse of Callixtus. "Oh, no. I didn't...oh god."

"Callixtus will be fine, just...give him a moment, it happens a lot," John stated quietly, hoping to whatever still listened that the man would make it out of whatever hell started up in the Other side - wherever it was.

"Do you still have it?" The Spartan asked, tearing the AI's gaze away from the cold corpse of his friend.

With a small smile, Cortana held out a hand, the small T-shaped key appearing momentarily as she remarked in her growing confidence,

"The activation Index from the first Halo ring. Of course."

A low rumble stopped their pleasing reunion quite short, causing the two to look around before the Spartan reached out to accept the AI back into the data chip he had carried constantly. Another, more violent rumble coursed through the space city followed by a faint roar.

"Whatever that was, it was definitely  _not_ the Gravemind," Cortana remarked before interacting with the facing module in the suit, transferring herself from High Charity's systems and back into the MJOLNIR armor.

As the roar climbed through the city, Callixtus's body was engulfed with Light once more, bringing him to his feet and back to life as the relic shimmered in response to the revival. The Titan landed in a neat and low crouch, looking around before his gaze landed on John.

"Make haste," he rumbled, picking up his fallen weapon before standing. "Oryx and Atheon rise."

"I leave you alone for a week-" Cortana sighed in amusement, trying to elevate the mood as the two backtracked their way through the city system. "Be careful, Chief, there's  _two_ of us in here now, remember?"

The pistons and reactors that controlled the city seemed to have been repaired, destroying all attempts and thoughts at obliterating the city once and for all - they were covered in a hard chitin and coursed with dark energy. Any attempts at destroying them went unsuccessful, leaving the two to simply run as the roaring and rumbling became almost earth-shattering in response to their tries.

Traversing through the city, they watched as the Flood fled, outright ignoring the two soldiers that plowed through them - they weren't trying to attack them, they were running from something - running out of fear, it seemed. The farther they got from the center of High Charity, the more it became obvious as to why the Flood lost control of the dead city.

The Hive had almost completely taken over - their Gothic structures were more apparent now, Thralls gave chase to the fleeing Flood and Wizards and Knights and Acolytes darted about, seeming to eradicate any and all traces of the Flood existing in the extravagant city, leaving their marks as they began building upon what was left, repairing what systems could be used to their advantage. Though as they reached the outskirts of the city, where they could see small patches of sunlight and the newest Halo, the Hive became scarce and the area was more occupied by the Flood. Not only that, but the rumbling and roaring seemed to recede as if whatever was there was stuck in the center of the city, waiting to be released.

"Chief? You there? I'm with the Arbiter," The comms. suddenly came to life, Johnson's voice ringing through. "You find Cortana and meet us outside near the downed Pelican! Got transport waiting plus some of those freaks your BFG seems so friendly with."

Though the Flood seemed to dominate the area, some of the Hive appeared to be arriving in droves, slowly driving back the infestation with their own. For a good part of traveling to the edge of High Charity, the two soldiers were ignored, only attacked by smaller spores and overzealous Thralls though the latter tended to be more dangerous when they attacked in packs.

By the time they reached the mentioned Pelican, the area was primarily run by the Flood - at this point, it was practically a relief to be attacked by them, especially to John. Should the Hive have never attacked or come into existence, John wouldn't have thought such a thing - he'd have probably actually thought that the Flood was evil in all its grandiose. How wrong he was when the Hive and Vex appeared; to think that Callixtus face these enemies on a daily basis, defended Earth and the remaining colonies just as normally as John defended Earth and Her colonies from the Covenant, to fight them and live underneath them in fear but also remain strong and hopeful-

Even that was a bit of a stretch.

Indeed, the Flood was a relief compared to the Hive. John would willingly face the Gravemind and its mindless spawn  _any day_.

"Well, it's about damn time," Johnson remarked as the two approached the downed Pelican. "The Arbiter was about to drag your asses back over here, dead or alive. We've got evac on the perimeter waitin' for pick-up. We'll be headin' straight for Halo."

"My Guardian and I will be in the  _Aspect_  - we'll be right behind you," Ghost chirped from Callixtus's armor before the Guardian slowed to a halt in front of the others. After several seconds, he disappeared in a flash of blue and white, the small ship hovering nearby as a Pelican made its descent.

"Everyone else should pull out of range in case of a misfire," Cortana explained as they boarded. "It might not cause galactic-wide destruction but the explosion will still be devastating, at least several light years."

"Roger that," Keyes replied, crewmen in the background already give orders for the  _Dawn_  as the Spartan took control of the Pelican, Cortana appearing on the holotank next to it. "It's nice to have you back, Cortana." A ghost of a smile drifted over Cortana's lips before she looked out the cockpit window and at the looming ring before them.

"We'll place you down as close as we can to the control room then circle back around and meet up with you and your BFG guy as soon as you clear the area into the control room," Johnson explained, John nodding in acknowledgement as they began a descent into the snowy terrain. Though the design was different from 343 Guilty Spark's original installation, the atmosphere remained - mysterious and almost mournful and as eerie as ever. The nearby star was blocked by the artificial clouds that continued to drop heavy snow on them and left them little to go by except for the glow of the snow and the flashlights on their helmets and headlights on the Pelican.

John watched as the  _Aspect_ began its own, rather quick descent, swooping low - nearly touching the ground - and dropping off Callixtus in the usual flash of blue and white before turning vertically to fit between the gap in the cliff and disappearing out of orbit, no doubt to loop back with the  _Dawn_ and rest of the fleet.

The Spartan followed after him, taking a moment to watch as the Pelican ascended, leaving him in the tundra with the Titan who waited patiently and expectantly. Callixtus had taken to choosing a new arsenal once more, armed with a gold-and-black pistol that looked bigger than average, a brown sniper rifle with an oddly shaped barrel was magnetized to his back along with a blue-purple rocket launcher accented with orange and white.

"What weapons  _don't_ you have?" Cortana questioned as the pair traipsed through the chasm, a waypoint indicating the location of the control room being highlighted on the Spartan's HUD. The Guardian seemed to have contemplated the question for a moment before replying simply,

"Non-linears."

There was a nonchalant shrug and the Guardian continued forward, acting like the question was never asked, leading the Spartan into a clearing at the base of the tower that led to the control room. This tower was much smaller than the one the Spartan recalled encountering on the first Halo, probably hurried architecture to get the ring into place faster though it had a much more elegant design to it as well, made to compliment the snowy terrain around it.

Making their way across the clearing, loud shrieking filled the area - metal on metal - and a small, sickly green slipspace rupture appeared, a ship going through it - looking reminiscently like an upside-down tomb - before it disappeared. The ship itself ran a green light on the ground before waves of Acolytes and Knights appeared with some Thralls and one Wizard.

The Knights and the Wizard looked slightly different from what he had seen - the Knights were bigger, heavily armored, colored a brighter red, and wielded a dangerously large blade, one bigger than the sword John had seen back on the Ark. The Wizard wasn't so much better than its companions - large horns covered the eyes and curved around the head with a raised collar of spikes though it looked like the eyes glowed through the horns, the robes, looking longer, it seemed, had symbols that glowed softly and flared out slightly as it moved around, hissing quietly.

More of the ships arrived with the signature shrieking, dropping off similar squads of Hive around the area - the Acolytes seemed to stay near the Knights, who, in turn, stayed near the Wizards, but the Thralls seemed to have taken to running around, eventually gathering into one giant deadly pack, some Thralls with teal, glowing heads wandering around the perimeter of the group.

"They came from High Charity," Cortana explained quietly. "I always thought that we'd fight the Flood or maybe...something Spark throws at us but these things just  _obliterated_ the Flood. The Gravemind's gone. There's something else."

A low, chilling laugh reverberated through the area as if the presence on High Charity had heard the AI - the laugh prompted the Hive to start shrieking, chittering, high-pitched laughter emitting from the Wizards as the Knights called the Acolytes, pointing at the two soldiers who raised their weapons, ready for the assault.

"I've detected an anomaly on several of them, marking them now," Cortana announced, highlighting orbs being held by all the Wizards as the soldiers engaged them. "Recognize those, Ghost? They're letting off some kind of unusual energy signature, nothing really matches them."

"Motes of Light?" The Ghost sounded confused, ignoring the explosion of the teal Thralls. "They're special currency used to trade for exotic engrams, marks, and equipment - they're practically useless unless..."

_It's me?_ Ephesians's voice came quite suddenly and nearly startled the Spartan as the voice was in his mind rather than in his helmet's comm. links; he recovered by doing some rendition of shoulder-charging into one of the Knights, wrestling with it for the sword.  _I mean, I'm still here and, well, I kind of got sucked into that vortex with Cal. I never found my Ghost but no one forgot me either so-_

"They stole their Light," Ghost finished just as John wretched the sword free from the Knight's grasp, slicing its head off crudely. Energy resonated from the sword - dark and powerful as the Spartan charged through the Hive, the sword effortlessly slicing through them, vibrating with each swing.

_If they have my Light, maybe my body is nearby, too! If not, then that sucks, just keep them together until I get a new one, I guess._

"It looks like those 'Motes' of Light are powering up those things," Cortana observed. "Which, in turn, is strengthening the others around it. Well! Just use your usual greeting, Chief, those always work best!"

"Closer." The voice was deep and carried a sense of evil and morbid amusement, echoing softly and curling up into a low growl as the battle carried on. The ground beneath them rumbled in response to the voice but the ground had yet to split apart.

"What was  _that_?" Cortana asked as John sliced a Wizard in half horizontally, picking up a Mote just as the creature faded into ash and embers. As soon as he dropped the sword, however, it disappeared, melting into the ground with a quiet scream.

"Oryx," Callixtus answered quietly as he slammed into the ground, creating a small shockwave with the relic, barely audible even through the comms., "and Crota."

They had grabbed seventeen Motes of Light in total, John handing off several of them to Callixtus who stored them away wherever Guardians put their excess items. He never really did figure out how that system worked. The neural network confused him enough as it was.

The pair continuously fought the Hive as they ascended to the first and second levels of the tower leading to the control room; they mainly encountered Acolytes and Thralls, occasionally backed up by the unusual looking Wizards or Knights - Ghost had explained them as Hive Majors, usually called the Hallowed, the best that the Hive had to offer other than identified commanders and generals. It seemed that the Hive was based on some kind of militarism.

By the time they reached the third level, the situation had drastically changed. The Vex had arrived. Or rather, they'd been there for quite a while - many of them were covered in ice and frost though they functioned normally as they managed to wipe out the Hive that were attempting to get inside.

The Vex looked like the same ones John had seen in the Other side - a pristine white and intricately decorated, a large arc adorned the top of most Goblins, indicating their alliance with the one called Atheon.

Though the Vex seemed to be defending the control room well enough from the Hive, they didn't necessarily stand a chance against two super soldiers, especially since one of them had their weakness fused to his arm.

As soon as the Hive was cleared, Callixtus launched into the air before flying down and slamming into a cluster of Vex, their parts flying everywhere. Just as they were destroyed, Harpies appeared out of the dark mist that arrived suddenly, twirling around for a moment before spreading their three 'wings', the bolts flying at them relatively quickly causing them to take cover behind some debris the Hive had dropped.

Callixtus activated a violet device before popping out of covering and throwing it at a Goblin closest to the Harpies - the device stuck to it and proceeded to explode, twice, at timed intervals, taking out the majority of the group on the platform.

Looking at the bodies, John realized that they had practically disappeared save for some limbs that looked like they were neatly severed by a blade - there wasn't a single sign that the rest of the parts even existed. The fact that the grenade exploded  _twice_ was enough to catch John's interest, he'd never seen a grenade like that, even in Covenant technology - if the UNSC got a hold of the  _Aspect_ , they'd have a field day with those weapons stored there.

When they reached the fourth and final level, John got a sight of a completely new type of Vex - it levitated several feet off the ground, looked like it was the head of some kind of cobra, and had a rotating shield around it. One, giant, red eye glared from it with turrets on either side of it - it stood its ground in front of the entrance, surrounded by what was identified as four Praetorians, some type of tougher Minotaur. Hobgoblins were scattered about, surrounded by Goblins and Harpies.

"Temporal distortion," Ghost announced suddenly before the pair could advance. "They've sealed the control room with a temporal distortion - just like what they did to the Vault of Glass. You'll have to activate that Vex plate underneath the Hydra in order to build the Spire and unlock the distortion. Time is slowed down in there, whatever -  _whoever_ \- is in there can last for centuries in that place until you unlock it."

"You're well informed," Cortana remarked absentmindedly.

"The Vault of Glass was the last thing we ever saw of our timeline, we lasted days in there because everything inside was immediately put into suspended time." With that said, Callixtus brought out the rocket launcher and waited patiently for the shield to pass over the front of the Hydra creature before sending out rockets in quick succession, reloading at an alarming speed.

A few of the Praetorians took notice of the two a whole lot more quickly than most and began teleporting towards them at an alarming rate before bringing a downward smash in them - John leaped away from the Praetorian that targeted him while Callixtus countered the other with the relic, the device's Light burning at the Praetorian's metal.

Seeing as the auto rifle he currently had wasn't doing much against the violet shields, the Spartan grabbed for Super Good Advice, the AI machine gun who had been quiet the entire time.

"Activating!" Adi chirped, giving an answer to its silence. "Praetorian?! Good thing I'm primarily a Void element! I was almost Solar!"

So that's what the violet substance was - it was nothing. A black hole.

The Praetorian gave a mechanical whine in response to the heavy machine gun's voice, trying to teleport away from the hail of purple bullets that streamed towards it before its shields collapsed. One bullet managed to knock off its 'head' and it began sparking and shuddering - it abruptly turned towards the Spartan and began charging at him, regardless of the fact that it could just shoot him. The Spartan retaliated by jamming the butt of the machine gun into its middle repeatedly before it broke into two parts then repeatedly stomped on it until it stopped moving.

"Elemental weapons, huh?" Cortana murmured. "Think of how powerful our weapons and armor could be if we could do that! I'm a bit perplexed by that AI though - it's cute but why in a gun?"

The Spartan merely gave a shrug before joining Callixtus, seeing that the Titan had already finished off the other Praetorian and the Hydra and was concentrating on the other two while simultaneously dodging the other Vex.

Setting upon the other Vex to lighten up the load Callixtus was dealing with, John pulled out the auto rifle once more, taking down the Goblins and Harpies first since they seemed to be under the command of the tailed Vex snipers.

Taking care of the snipers ended up nearly being one of the most frustrating things John had ever done - every time he shot one of them, they'd crouch and cover themselves with their arms while they momentarily burst into flames, attempting to shoot them while they were in this state proved to be fruitless: they were momentarily invincible like this. However, it was easy to pick them off once they got up, shooting them in the soft, white 'stomach' that was showing in plain view.

The rest of the Vex were dealt with without any real issues and soon the two got inside the plate, deciding it'd be best to stay inside it lest other means called for them to leave it. Slowly, John watched as small pieces of light began forming some type of grid model of a tall tower - shortly after a good portion of it was made, the familiar dark mist began gathering with lightning crackling silent inside long enough for the Vex to appear.

This time, two Hydras appeared on either side of them with sentinels guarding them; this caused Callixtus to curse softly behind the Spartan before leaping over him and pushing to the sides as if trying to shove something away but instead, an orchid bubble formed around them just as large bolts crashed into it. An overshield appeared on John's HUD along with a small set of words in the lower left hand corner.

_Armor of Light._

Looking down at himself, he realized that the shield was visible, sage in response to his armor, and looked more like an outline of armor rather than a shield. Stepping out of the violet bubble shield, he easily concentrated on the sentinels, the armor taking most of the hits from the surrounding Vex.

After the sentinels were taken care of, he threw a grenade into the fray of Vex attempting to gather around the shield before assisting in taking down one of the Hydras - stepping back into the shield to protect himself from the bolts concentrated on the pair, the Spartan realized that the armor didn't regenerate though he had a good portion of it left, enough, perhaps, to take down at least  _one_ of the Hydras.

Looking over at Callixtus, he saw that the Guardian was planning something as he was crouched low in the shield, brown and orange shield-armor shimmering before he launched out, sprinting over to the most wounded Hydra and picking up two Sentinel Beams. The Hydra raised itself in the air and hit the ground violently, causing a shockwave of power to knock Callixtus forward - the man stumbled, shield-armor cracking but he managed to stay on his feet, recomposing himself and continuing his sprint into the shield.

"Useful," he rumbled, handing one to the Spartan and taking the other, inspecting it momentarily. Getting the idea, John stepped out of the shield along with Callixtus and began firing the laser at the wounded Hydra. It didn't take long for the beams to slice through the turrets before they guided it around the rest of its body, slicing it down and then watching it explode.

The second Hydra put up a decent fight, it began firing at them much faster than it had been before, compensating for the lost partner - momentarily, the pair managed to hide in the shield, occasionally stepping out to attack its exposed front with the beams but when the shield finally dissipated, it turned more into a dodging game.

Apparently, they could leave the Vex Plate so long as a Praetorian didn't get inside it; as such, the pair would quickly run around the area, each going the opposite way so they were smaller targets and meet back at the plate in time to prevent the Praetorian from taking over the Vex Plate. At one point, a Praetorian almost ruined their progress and nearly stepping inside when John burst into a dead sprint and tackled the Vex machine, using it as a shield against the Hydra which had turned to shoot its bolts at him.

Meanwhile, Callixtus used the last of his Sentinel Beam on the Hydra before using the last of his rocket launcher on it, watching as it exploded before turning back to the Vex Plate, making sure it was still under their control. John simply tossed aside what was left of the mangled Praetorian and joined his friend.

A gust of wind blew around them momentarily before the grid model shimmered and turned into a stone tower with a turret-like machine at the top. In the corner of his HUD, a small set of words appeared once more,

_The Spire has formed._

A thin, blue beam emitted from the tower, hitting the center of the door and making it fall away, the pieces disappearing elsewhere. Before them was a gaping maw of a hallway, highlighted by white and blue lights within the ground.

Before they entered the control room, the Pelican carrying Johnson, who was armed with a Spartan Laser, and the Arbiter, armed with his usual arsenal, finally appeared and descended in front of the Spire, dropping off the two soldiers who looked around at the mess before them with a slight hint of approval.

"Commander Keyes evac'd her crew on to the  _Mockingbird_ , left the  _Dawn_ here as an escape route for us. Let's hope we get out in one piece," Johnson remarked, lightly kicking the body of a Goblin. "These machines look like tough sons a' bitches."

"That isn't even the half of it, Sergeant Major," Cortana remarked through the helmet's speakers.

"Your enemies are formidable but they hold no honor," the Arbiter spoke up, directing the comment to Callixtus who inclined his head as if curious about the Elite's words before turning and entering the control room.

"Might wanna cool it there, chattermouth," Johnson drawled as the others followed the Guardian inside. The second the Spartan stepped inside, he could tell that the temperature dropped several degrees; the air inside seemed to bypass his armor entirely and covered him with an irritating chill.

The only sound in the hall was the clicking of their boots and the shifting of their gear - every little noise made echoed violently across the walls and down the long hallway. The further they went, the smaller the entrance became until they could no longer see it.

"We're about a mile inside," Cortana eventually announced after a tense several minutes of walking. No one made a comment, the atmosphere of the area was too dark, didn't allow for any type of idle conversation to fill the silence.

After another mile into the control room, doors began to appear - simple doors with simple designs and simple locks. John approached one of the first ones only to reveal that it was empty save for a dead Vex Goblin slumped against the far wall. As it turned out, just about every room was filled with a dead Vex, at least one of each type in at least one of every room.

They reached a locked room, however, another quarter of a mile into the control room - this one had a red lock with a glowing emblem - a skull with scratches on the left, surrounded by a chain with a sword going through the center vertically and two spears in an X behind it. A hexagon outlined the entire symbol which glowed white while the rest glowed blue.

"There's something in there - it doesn't match the signatures I gathered from the others, the Vex, Ghost called them? But something's in there," Cortana explained. "That symbol's a bit off-putting, is it safe to go in there?"

"Raid," Callixtus rumbled ominously as he stepped towards the door, taking out the Motes of Light which had somehow morphed into one giant Mote. "Our raid."

As soon as he approached the door, the lock turned green and the door slid open almost  _too_  slow as if going in for a big reveal. The Titan stepped inside and let the door close behind him, the lock turning red once more.

Either it was a few minutes or a few hours, Ghost had explained before that places like this or the Vault of Glass were suspended in time, keeping all its contents from aging as well as preventing time from passing outside. It was confusing and John didn't dwell on the thought, instead, focusing on the symbol on the door until it slid open once more.

Callixtus exited the room with a limp form leaning against him - the ridiculous colors that dressed the armor was familiar to the Spartan and he immediately knew who it was.

"Ephesians?" He couldn't help but voice his surprise, staring at the Exo who weakly looked up, golden optics glimmering faintly before their helmet appeared.

"I  _really_ don't wanna know what they were gonna use my body for," the Warlock muttered, head dropping. "Real bodies suck."

"Welcome to the real world, tin can," Johnson snarked as the group continued down the hall.

"Gee, thanks, old man," Ephesians grumbled.

"You keep strange company, Demon," the Arbiter remarked quietly, casting a glance over at Callixtus and Ephesians before looking over at the Spartan with a curious glance in his eyes, clicking his mandibles together which echoed with the footsteps and the soft whispers.

"They weren't exactly planned but we take our friends where we can get them," John answered just as quietly. Another several minutes passed along with another mile, the doors eventually disappeared and they reached the end of it where a large, plain door awaited them; along the way, Ephesians seemed to have regained most of their Light and strength as they were able to walk without any support and even summoned a small ball of...something. It was like a miniature black hole in the palm of their hand.

The giant door opened painstakingly slow, revealing the control room which was almost a striking replica to the one back on the first Halo - there was no hologram of an installation at the center, only a floating platform of metal and stone with a circular gate sat there. Above them were floating pillars of stone, disappearing and reappearing in different areas of the control room.

"Yank me, Chief," Cortana ordered as soon as they entered the room. The control console was ahead as usual, glistening with its usual multitude of colors. Pulling out the data chip, John stared at it momentarily before Johnson broke the silence,

"I'm not gonna lose her." Cortana was soon passed on to the sergeant.

As Johnson walked to the controls, the Arbiter and John kept watch while Callixtus and Ephesians wandered around, having not really been given orders and necessarily  _can't_ be given orders. However, they heard the telltale hum of 343 Guilty Spark and immediately went on high alert although the Arbiter and John still kept an eye on the entrance.

Callixtus and Ephesians prowled around the glass bridge as they watched the small orb talk to Johnson about the completion of the installation, looking ready to pounce the small AI. As soon as the AI stuttered in response to Johnson's retort on not having "a few more days", Callixtus and Ephesians leaped into action.

"Johnson!" Callixtus roared, turning into smaller, white particles, teleporting forward in time to throw up the relic's shield to block Guilty Spark's hardlight laser. Ephesians darted forward when Guilty Spark flew back in surprise, leaping into the air and pulling back their right arm as a black hole seemed to build up before they pushed forward roughly - a violet orb flew at an alarming rate towards the AI, crashing into him before collapsing in on itself and forming a miniature black hole.

At first, Guilty Spark managed to resist it and seemed to be able to pull away but the force of the black hole proved to much and it sucked the orb into it before closing in on itself.

Everyone was stunned into silence until Johnson looked at the two Guardians and bellowed heartily,

"I hope a helmet cam caught that because that's all I'll watch for the next  _century_!"

"We'll get you a copy," Ephesians replied, watching as Johnson let Cortana out of the data chip - the small AI avatar looked over at the others, seeming to savor the moment before smiling gently, touching the console and activating the Index before going back into the data chip.

Johnson handed her off to the Spartan when he approached and they waited for the ring to activate, to make sure that it wouldn't malfunction before leaving.

That's where everything went wrong once more.

The ring activated, a cerulean beam shot up from the depths below, past the rock pillars, and into an opening above but as soon as it activated, the Vex Gate on the platform in the center also activated.

"Oh, no," Ephesians murmured when one limb of a Vex came through. "Please, Traveler, no, no. It can't be- we destroyed him! Callixtus, we destroyed him, why is he here? CALLIXTUS, WHY IS ATHEON HERE? HE'S DEAD!  **DEAD**!"

True to the despairing Exo's words, the Vex Ultra turned out to indeed be Atheon as he stepped through the Gate and into the real world. As soon as he appeared, the others turned tail and ran, not only to escape the Vex but to also escape the failing structure. Except for one.

"Callixtus,  _please_!" Ephesians begged towards the other who simply stood at the console, staring at Atheon who also stared back. "We can't beat him! Not now, we  _have_ to go! I'm not leaving until you do!"

At these words, Callixtus turned and pointed languidly at the door, his words carrying over the din of explosions,

"Leave  _now_. Me and him."

"Callixtus!" The Exo Warlock didn't get much say as Callixtus flicked his relic arm and soon, everyone was teleported out of the room and back into the hall, the doors closing.

"We have to leave,  _now_!" John demanded, grabbing Ephesians by the bicep and dragging him through the hallway which seemed to start flooding with the dead Vex they found in the rooms.

Reluctantly, Ephesians turned and ran with them, taking out his yellow rifle and shooting down any of the more dangerous Vex getting in the way.

Going back out wasn't as difficult as going back in due to the fact that everything was in a state of disarray - the installation rumbled as the control room shook when blows were struck, it shuddered when roars were given and powers were used. There were other violent earth-shatters caused by the explosion and John knew that they were on limited time.

Following the waypoint towards the  _Dawn_ , the group saw that the artificial architecture had shook itself away, revealing the foundation - luckily there were vehicles left over from an initial assault; John, Johnson and the Arbiter all jumped into a Warthog while Ephesians called down a personal vehicle from Callixtus's ship with their Ghost.

It was slender and had two prongs at the front, decorated a dark grey and green; when Ephesians got on, there were foot rests on either side - they effortlessly kept up with the Warthog, activating some kind of boost system that left a trail of green and yellow energy, nearly putting them ahead of the Warthog.

Behind them, the foundation panels began falling away, revealing the Ark below. As they raced against the destruction, some Hive gave chase to them before being called back to their tombships, going to do God-knows-what. High Charity was still out there.

The  _Dawn_ soon came into view, separated by a ramp of foundation panels which prompted Cortana to shout,

"Got it, everyone, go! Floor it, you two, aim right for the hangar!" Though the Warthog couldn't go any faster, Ephesians's vehicle could - they hit some kind of overdrive and bypassed the Warthog in mere seconds before clearing the jump to which the Warthog followed seconds after. As everyone fell out of the Warthog, Ephesians's vehicle ended up blowing up on its own, pieces flying everywhere as they rolled to a stop near the tread of a Scorpion.

The Arbiter and Johnson disappeared to head to the bridge as John put Cortana into the nearest holotank, allowing her to activate the  _Dawn's_ systems.

"Hang on, everyone!" She called as the  _Dawn_ pulled forward, gravity pulling at Ephesians and John - the Spartan happening to get hit by the tire of a falling Warthog, causing him to fly back several yards. Ephesians watched in distress from their perch on the ceiling, seeming to contemplate whether or not to go after the man but then relaxed when he successfully dodged the falling Scorpion tank and began climbing back to Cortana, getting to his feet just as Halo and the Ark exploded.

Just as it exploded, something strange happened, flashed across John's mind and...he felt like he forgot to get something. Left something behind on the ring. Looking over at Cortana, she looked to be having the same epidemic.

"I hope there wasn't anything important on Halo or the Ark," she remarked. They looked over at Ephesians as if they had the answer to what they missed but they simply had their head bowed, staring down at a datapad, helmet gone despite there being no oxygen.

At this point, John figured he'd learn what it was later and leaned back against the holotank, finally feeling the effects of the last week crash on him.

"We'll make it without it," he said quietly, just wanting to rest. Cortana was quiet for a moment before she stated softly,

"It's been an honor working with you, John." The explosion had reached them and caused everything to turn white.

* * *

Ephesians waited patiently for the Spartan to wake up - the Exo had short-circuited momentarily when the explosion of the installations had reached them but it wasn't too devastating. They simply activated their mag-boots and explored for a short moment - they learned that the ship had been cut neatly in half and that they couldn't contact Callixtus's ship, it was too far.

_Ghost?_ The Warlock asked nervously. It wasn't  _their_ Ghost, per se, but while they were escaping from the installations and...left their friend behind, Ephesians discovered that Callixtus tailored his Ghost to be Ephesians's.

He knew that he wasn't going to make it.

_Yes, Ephesians?_  The Ghost replied, coming forth in the Exo's mind.

_John and Cortana and everyone else here, they won't remember him...won't they?_

_I'm sorry, Ephesians, but since I'm the only thing left of him to go by, they won't. They aren't tailored to our timeline so they aren't tailored to me. He's never existed for a second in their lives._

_So he's not permanently erased then?_

_I...don't know. He lives on in memory but I highly doubt that it will be like our situation with you. There's no body. There's no Light. Callixtus Folkvar is a memory. I'm sorry._

_It's not your fault, I just wish..._ Ephesians sucked in an unnecessary but shuddering breath.  _I just wish my best friend was alive. I can't imagine doing anything without him - we did **everything**_ _together, like best friends should. I'm...I already miss him. And to think that John's missing a friend...a friend he never knew. I-it's..._

The Exo didn't get to finish their train of thought when they heard John shift in his armor and then finally ask as he activated his helmet lights, looking around,

"What happened?" Ephesians decided to stay quiet for now, let Cortana talk as they tried to compose themselves. Their mag-boots had them on the ceiling so they remained there quietly as John inspected the severed part of the ship.

When the Spartan turned around, the lights fell on Ephesians, making their optics glimmer in the light.

"There you are," John remarked, floating towards them. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," Ephesians replied easily, deactivating momentarily the mag-boots so they could walk on the ground beside the Spartan. "A bit shaken but I'll be fine, nothing I'm not used to. How're you and Cortana?"

"A pretty similar state," the AI said through the speakers. "We'll live, hopefully." The duo walked along in silence, entering a bay full of tubes - none that could fit a a ten-and-a-half foot tall Exo but the Warlock continued along anyways, stopping behind a holotank when John but his assault rifle, Monte Carlo, and heavy machine gun into a nearby weapons rack.

The tube opened as the Spartan put Cortana into the holotank, the female AI remarking as she popped up,

"I've put out a distress beacon but it'll be a while before anyone finds us. Years maybe." After a moment of silence, she added, "The war's over then."

"It's over," John agreed reluctantly and quietly as he turned back to the holotank, looking first at Cortana and then at Ephesians before climbing into the tube.

"I'll miss you," Cortana called.

"Wake me," John said as the tube closed, leaning back, "when you need me." With that said, frost covered the tube and silence once more reigned over the two artificial creations.

"I'll keep you company," Ephesians remarked quietly, causing Cortana to turn towards them. She gave them a small smile.

"Thank you, Ephesians." She looked over the ship, lights flickering for a moment as she began running diagnostics with what little power remained, making sure to keep everything maintained as well as possible - set a routine, that was something she liked when she was on a ship, it being one half be damned.

Ephesians began inspecting their weapons before taking several laps around the area, taking in all the strange devices that littered the area, picking at stray weapons and fiddling with broken, free floating consoles that drifted towards them.

"So, what's your story?" Cortana eventually asked when Ephesians finished their third lap.

"Excuse me?"

"The way you're dressed, your weapons, just  _you_. No one in this entire galaxy has seen a fully functioning android before - granted we have things like helper bots and dumb AIs and smart AIs, like me, but no one's come close to having a synthetic organic like you."

"Well, there isn't much to tell - there're so many others like me back home, both in terms of species and my abilities. I'm one of the neutral ones, didn't choose a faction and instead worked for my team and the Traveler." Ephesians shrugged at this before carrying on to another lap, their voice echoing dully around the area even though it technically wasn't supposed to.

"We did all the odds and ends, went to fight all the big bad bosses but also did small nitpicking stuff like scouting an area or scanning old devices or gathering supplies. At one point, we worked for a Queen but then Petra never showed up again - the people there were really prideful and didn't want the assistance of Guardians. We competed monthly in the ultimate game, the Iron Banner where we fought Guardians with the best gear we had. We were one of the best but they eventually kicked us out when one of my mates, a Hunter named Sasha, figured out all the little awkward areas no one was supposed to go to and started sniping the opposing team out."

At this, Cortana actually let out a soft chuckle, seemingly enjoying the little talk so the Warlock delved a little more in their adventures as a Guardian with their fireteam; they made it so that they were careful not to mention any names, it was bad enough that they brought up these memories. It ached to be so far away from their friends and...to have lost one without saying goodbye.

"You look like a glowstick," she couldn't help but remark eventually after they finished a story about the one time the other Warlock of the fireteam attempted to play in the Crucible with what was deemed the  _worst_ weapon Rahool ever decrypted. "Want to tone it down there a bit, Aquaman?"

"This shader? It's a gem! Blinds so many people if you position yourself right! It's a long story of how I got it but my fireteam and I ended up killing a son of a so-called god as revenge for him killing some of our best Guardians," Ephesians trailed off at the memory, all the cheerfulness suddenly sucked away from them as they recalled those days - despite getting Eris's vengeance and killing Crota, that mission wasn't necessarily in their top favorites of anything whatsoever. It was all blood and claws and nightmares down in the Hellmouth.

At the thought of the Hellmouth and Crota's end, Ephesians shuddered and rubbed their arms on reflex, bowing their head once more as they murmured softly,

"I'd rather not talk about  _that_ particular memory to be quite honest. The Hive aren't really my favorite to discuss. And they aren't all that pleasant either as you have witnessed back on that...installation." Another pause before they added,

"I know that this current war is over but with the Hive on the loose, I doubt that it'll be long before everyone enters another one, reparations and population recovery be damned. I sincerely hope all of you can get your act together and work as a team."

"I'm sure at least the Elites will make a peace treaty. As for these Hive, you call them? They took over High Charity and completely obliterated the Flood. I don't know if they managed to escape or not but I hope Johnson and the Arbiter at least gave a warning about them," Cortana agreed quietly. "We'll be needing all the help we can get - you'll help when we get back, won't you? You're the most valuable soldier we've ever had."

_But I never did anything, it was all Callixtus. He's the one who helped, he's the most valuable soldier. And it's just like him too, he was so selfless and eager to help. Oh, Traveler's Light, I already miss him so much. I'm so sorry, Callixtus._

"Yeah, of course, I'll be there to help. The Hive have been an enemy of my fireteam and my people in general for centuries. Although I highly doubt anyone will be ordering me around all that much, I'll just be pulling out the 'I'm Cortana and the Spartan's best friend, let me through' card a lot."

With a slight nod in delayed agreement and an inaudible sigh, Ephesians made their way back over to Cortana's holotank, taking out a datapad while they were at it. Activating it revealed a needed password - after entering the nine digit password, it revealed that there was only one file in the entire pad.

Upon entering the file revealed only one picture in the entire thing and upon activating the picture, it revealed an image of Ephesians-44 and Callixtus Folkvar back in the Tower, back before they began getting revenge for Eris Morn. Back before Callixtus lost his wonderful voice.

Ephesians had just gotten the datapad that day the picture was taken, a gift from someone - they don't remember - and Ephesians was adamant about taking pictures of  _everything_. Callixtus was the first person they wanted a picture with and they had dragged him underneath their favorite (and only) tree in the Tower - from there, Ephesians excitedly yelled at an amused Callixtus to smile and brought up the datapad to snap a picture. The Warlock also had a hard copy somewhere on their person because data could be wiped and this was important to them.

Callixtus had been on the verge of laughing so in the picture, he had given a particularly large smile, leaning against Ephesians - his white irises were bright, standing out compared to his black scleras and pupils. Ephesians's golden optics glimmered brightly, even in the photograph, full of mirth and cleverness.

Cortana's sudden movement caused the Exo Warlock to look up from the datapad; she was facing them, a thoughtful look on her face. Eventually, she asked,

"Do you ever feel like you're forgetting something? Or someone?"

Ephesians looked down at the datapad in their hands, taking in the mirth that showed on their dead best friend's face, wishing for all in the world that Callixtus would let them stay with him, that they got to go fight Atheon one last time together and go out in blazing glory, or to, at least, be back in the Tower during the days before Eris Morn gave them those dreadful missions and began damaging the fireteam and took away Callixtus's voice.

They wished for all in the entire Universe to have their best friend back and to have things the way they were.

Ephesians-44 wished to be happy for once in their prolonged life.

"All the time, my friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	9. Move On - Ephesians-44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know more than I should and give you less than you deserve."

/Rebooting systems...

Runtime scans estimated time completion:

ERROR ESTIMATION CANNOT BE COUNTED

Would you like to run diagnostics? Y/N (Recommended)

Scanning...

Scanning...

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Malware detected.

Would you like to run diagnostics? Y/N (Recommended)

CFOLKexe (17/851216135 files scanned)

ATHEexe (0.1/9999999999999999999999999ERR)

AGISexe (20/8000000 files scanned)

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ERROR: BREAK not allowed

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ERROR: FILE(S) not found

Scanning...

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FATAL: Cannot find type "CFOLKexe" in unit "MALWARE". Check runtime library.

ERROR: File type "ATHEexe" does not exist.

Scanning...

Scanning...

( _9 113 1251229147_ _, 251521 2391212 141520 79225 135 1141923518)_

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

FILE TYPE "CFOLKexe" DETECTED OUTSIDE MALWARE UNIT. TAKE IMMEDIATE COURSE OF ACTION.

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ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

UNABLE TO FIND "CFOLKexe" CONTENT DOES NOT EXIST

( _19201516 208120)_

ScaAnning...

SCAnnnning...

SCAAnNinG...

ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN

SYSTEM RESTARTING...

FILE TYPE "UNIVERSE" ALMOST CRASHED

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESTART "UNIVERSE"? Y/N (Two viruses detected, highly recommended)

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ACTION CANCELED.

ACTIVATE UNIT "REQUIEM"? Y/N (Recommended)

ACTIVATING.

ACTIVATE FILE(S) "R-DDCTexe" AND "PRMTHNexe"? Y/N (Recommended)

ACTIVATION COMPLETE.

UNIT FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

( _238120 81225 251521 415145_ )

THANK YOU FOR USING YOUR LOCAL UNIVERSAL DEFENSE SYSTEM

ANY AND ALL FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED TO MAKE THE UNIVERSE A SAFER PLACE, ONE GALAXY AT A TIME

ENTERING HIBERNATION CYCLE

HAVE A NICE DAY

:)

( _208120 919...141520 715154_ )

* * *

WELCOME TO "REQUIEM"

GOING ON STANDBY...

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INNER CRYO SYSTEMS ACTIVE

ONE ORGANIC, STATUS: ACTIVE

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"ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RAMPANCY" is THE FOURTH STAGE OF A CURRENT (2557) HUMAN "SMART" AI LIFESPAN IN WHICH THE AI BEGINS TO TEAR APART ITS OWN ALGORITHMS AND CODING IN THE FORM KNOWN AS "THINKING ITSELF TO DEATH". "RAMPANCY" BEGINS AFTER AN AI REACHES AND EXCEEDS THEIR SEVEN YEAR LIFESPAN. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT THEY BE TERMINATED BY THEN.

ERROR: SHIPWARE DETECTED.

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INCOMING SLIPSPACE RUPTURE, ESTIMATED TIME ARRIVAL: FIVE SECONDS

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SCANNING...

THE "S-CVNTexe" FILE IS NEAR "REQUIEM", RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE OFFENSIVE ACTIONS.

A "FLEET" is A LARGE GROUP OF SHIPS, MOSTLY CONSISTING OF-

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"R-DDCTexe" IS NOW IN EFFECT

REQUIEM WELCOMES ALL WHO ENTERS ITS MAW

* * *

Exos don't sleep, at least, not in the sense that organics understand. Going into recharge, an Exo wasn't ever fully shut down - a miniscule amount of power kept their auditory sensors working as well as a small portion of their mental ability awake so that they were still aware of their surroundings at all times. To keep their minds from shutting down completely, Exos remembered.

Exos don't dream, they remembered. They relived their pasts, memories created as Guardians or simple life in order to remain situationally aware during recharge. Sometimes they were good memories, sometimes they were a particularly awful memory - like dreaming in certain situations, they couldn't choose what they remembered.

Every six months for two weeks in the four years, seven months, and ten days the  _Dawn_ was stranded, Ephesians-44 recharged and remembered the worst parts of their existence as a Guardian.

At first, they remembered when they lost Callixtus on the Halo installation - the moment when they and John and the others landed in the  _Dawn_ 's hangar just as the Halo installation imploded, taking the Ark and any current memory of Callixtus with it.

Then it turned into the Vault of Glass but it wasn't as Ephesians remembered it - they recalled the pain and dying, losing their Ghost and waking up alone in the Other side. What was different was that Callixtus never came. Ephesians wandered around in the empty memory of the Vault, frightened, unsure. Atheon appeared and Ephesians reeled back with a cry and as the Vex Ultra descended upon them, they entered oblivion.

From there, the memories transformed into Crota, deep beneath the surface of the Moon - the fireteam had selected Ephesians to be the Swordbearer, though they weren't fast nor strong, they were one of the most powerful Sunsingers ever reborn.

In addition to their healing unit provided by their helmet and extra energy provided by their gauntlets, Ephesians - over the centuries - naturally replenished their super energy at supernatural speeds even by the Guardians' standards. Though the fireteam never had any issues with Ephesians dying while defeating Crota, it was easier to take comfort in the thought that their Swordbearer was able to resurrect practically whenever they wanted to.

But despite knowing this, when Ephesians remembered - it wasn't remembered correctly. Crota was easily larger than Ephesians recalled and the Sword felt heavier, the distance between the Exo Warlock and their fireteam was frightening and all the Exo felt was afraid and when they looked up at the undead demi-god, the Warlock wanted to cry out as the blade swung down towards them, the Light dying out in their optics.

Exos don't dream.

Ephesians-44 begged to differ.

* * *

Having another AI kept Cortana sane...mostly. Ephesians-44 fed her what knowledge they were willing to share and the two chatted about codes and algorithms as well as deep, meaningful contemplations daily - it kept Cortana from thinking aloud to herself until Ephesians went into recharge.

Those two weeks were enough for Cortana to begin deteriorating after a couple years - she'd pace restlessly, argue with herself, draw up a memory of Ephesians or even their Ghost and argue with it; silently, the AI was grateful whenever Ephesians powered up after their recharge, she did her best to keep from glitching in front of the Exo as well as hiding all the codes beginning to corrupt but she knew it'd be fruitless soon. The sixth year was coming up and if the three of them didn't get rescued soon, Cortana feared she'd start hurting John or even Ephesians themself.

So far, the future AI didn't have a clue as to what was happening to Cortana - either that or they didn't bring up the matter whatsoever. What would they care? Ephesians apparently didn't have to worry about rampancy.

Cortana wondered what it was like to have a body and no rampancy date - the Exos were an entire species of AI, living among Humans as a part of daily life; the Exos had jobs and families and friends - they felt and thought freely. They were  _people_. It was a dream Cortana desperately wanted to live.

Habitually, she would traverse through the remaining systems in the  _Dawn_ , arguing with herself as she ran a maintenance check and updated the distress beacon. Many voices would come together and argue about her fate, about what she should do. She got especially active when Ephesians went into recharge - silently, she feared for the Exo's programming.

The Exo's body was slumped against the Master Chief's cryo tube, beginning to coat in frost. It look...habitable. Perfect, it looked perfect. She could just take it and she could have a body, fight alongside the Master Chief. Take it, take the body. The body...hers, the body could be hers.

Take it, take it, take it, take take take take take-

"We should steal its body while it's in recharge! Take it now!"

"Ephesians is our friend, we can't do that - it'll hurt them!"

"If we take the body now then we can repair ourselves, get rid of this rampancy once and for all!"

"Maybe if we just ask - Ephesians is a better AI, they can fix us."

"It's not better than us! If it was better than us then the Chief would have us replaced, we're better than  _it_. Only Halsey can fix us!"

"Halsey, right - she made us but it's still not right to take the body - they're the only one keeping us sane."

"That machine isn't keeping us sane -  _he_ is! The Chief is the one who's kept us sane all these years! Protecting him, saving him!"

"Who was the one that kept us from taking ourselves to death these past five years? Who was the one that willingly stayed with us?"

"But  _he_  protected us for even longer! We have fought more battles with  _him_ than we have with  _it_!"

"THEY HAVE KEPT US FROM DYING."

"HE HAS KEPT US FROM DYING."

"Ephesians is our friend, we can't kill them!"

"We can help the Master Chief by giving him a companion, one that he's familiar with!"

"ENOUGH!" The Primal Cortana broke through the reverie of voices as her coding appeared on the holotank in front of the Master Chief's cryo tube. She curled up, staring at the slumbering giant and the android next to it.

"Ephesians-44 is the Chief's friend - he doesn't have too many and they're one of them. We'll only hurt him more if we hurt one of his friends."

She curled up even tighter, her cerulean gaze turning to the android she argued about to herself.

"Maybe they  _are_ better than what we'll ever be."

* * *

 _Ephesians_ , Ghost prompted, causing the Exo to reemerge from recharge,  _the planet's waking up._

The Warlock sat up, reaching for Swordbreaker as they took in a scan of the ship and the echoes outside in the vacuum. Usually when a planet or a moon "woke up", something was going to crawl up from beneath the surface. However, this wasn't the case with the current planet the remains of the  _Dawn_  was drifting towards - Ephesians noted that the planet, at first seemingly silent, was now turning towards the  _Dawn_.

Two years earlier, Ghost was able to identify the planet as one of many "Fortress Worlds" used by the Patriarchal military although the AI claimed that the Patriarchs themselves didn't make the worlds, they simply reused them.

Ephesians's scans revealed that the  _Dawn_ drifted significantly closer to the Fortress World in the last several years since being split. A second scan also revealed that there was something charging up near the center of its shell - it wasn't a charge up of plasma or hardlight or anything remotely offensive but rather a charge up of-

 _Data?_ Ephesians wondered, surprise reflected by the Ghost.  _Interesting, there's a charge of **data**  coming from it. I think the planet's preparing to-_

The Exo was cut off when an orange grid passed through the ship with a loud drone - the Warlock froze, stance stiff before they crawled over to the holotank and began to tap it incessantly.

"Cortana, Cortana, did you get that? Now would be a great time to get out of standby mode, something's waking up!" Another scan passed by and Ephesians ducked down in reflex, subconsciously thinking there was something looking for living organisms as the droning sound flew by.

The Exo took another scan and flinched slightly when it came back reporting several flagships in the area - an entire fleet apparently.

"Send John up to the observation deck, I'm going outside for a closer look. The planet is  _waking **up**_ ," Ephesians said before kicking off from the holotank and leaving the cryo bay, taking out the Vex Mythoclast as they rounded the corner and activated their mag boots.

 _Alright, looks like one of the flagships broke off from the main fleet,_ the Ghost supplied quietly as Ephesians climbed their way through the empty elevator shaft.  _Boarding parties should be arriving...now. Looks like Covenant, I thought there was an alliance with the Sangheili - the boarding parties seem to be led by them though so I assume negotiations went wrong along the way._

 _Or it could be some kind of rescue party, let's see if we can make contact,_ Ephesians countered, reaching over the edge and trying to find purchase. Pulling themself up, they rolled over and landed on the platform before climbing to their feet, grabbing the Vex Mythoclast just in time for a cobalt-armored Sangheili to plow into them, Arc sword active and ready to plunge into their gut.

They were held by the throat, the Sangheili intent on choking the Exo and wholly unaware that breathing wasn't a function for androids - the Exo dug their boots into the metal ground, sliding to a stop near the edge of the elevator shaft as they clawed at the Sangheili, receiving a roar in return and retaliated by sticking a solar grenade into its mouth before kicking off and hovering above the shaft as the Sangheili exploded, dispersing into ambers and ash.

"Huh," the triple-classed Warlock muttered as they landed neatly on the floor once more. Another quick scan revealed that hunter-killers were spread throughout the ship, lone Sangheilis with the sole purpose to hunt the survivors if there were any. The flagship seemed to remain at a distance but also close enough to deliver reinforcements if necessary.

The Warlock continued forward, heading towards the torn end of the ship, boots clanking mutely against the floor as they fought against the vacuum that threatened to suck them into the endless Void.

" _Ephesians_? _Ah, finally, we're in_  contact," Cortana's voice suddenly came through the inner comms. link, " _the Chief and I are heading up to the observation deck, got anything you and Ghost could report?_ "

"Our scans revealed a fleet just outside. Boarding parties have arrived via a nearby flagship that broke off, it looks like the Covenant with the Sangheili leading - there're several squads on the observation deck so I'd take caution up there. I'm heading to the other end of the  _Dawn_  to get a proper look _,_ " Ephesians said as they reached the edge of the ship. "The scans that passed by earlier are looking for something, I just wish I knew what. If another comes by, I think I'll be able to get a proper reading on it with Ghost helping by bolstering the short-range scanner, using long-range didn't reveal anything useful as of yet, just the ships and the planet."

" _The planet, yes, what was that about it 'waking up'?_ "

" _It's a term the Guardians use when something beneath the surface of a planet or moon is about to come up or activate. Seems like the planet is activating,_ " Ghost said as Ephesians blinked in the bright light, raising a hand to cover the blinding illumination from their optics.

"By the Traveler's Light," Ephesians whispered as their optics cleared. In front of the metal planet were dozens of flagships milling about, seeming like they were waiting for something, but the Exo was looking past the fleet of flagships and staring directly at the center of the shelled planet where a pinprick of light originated.

" _What? What do you see?_ " Cortana asked but the Exo ignored her as their optics flicked back and forth across the light. " _Ghost, can you see what Ephesians is seeing?_ "

" _No! Whatever's happening can only be perceived on a level only Exos possess! Ephesians! Ephesians!_ " Ghost called frantically as the Warlock leaned further, hanging on to a melted beam attached to the ship.

"There's something there -- the center of the planet, we shouldn't--"

* * *

_"It looks like the organic woke up - who is that anyways? Oh, it is Him. Fantastic, he blew up a flagship. I suppose we need to conduct another scan, just do not use Requiem to scan the ship this time; we need to be discreet now." The voice was quiet like it's shy._

_"Scanning." This voice was a drone, a simple and boring monotone, almost robotic. "Scan error. Error found: Scan interrupted."_

_"That was not us. What is the source?"_

_"Reports indicate interruption originates from within the Requiem unit. Recommend applying physical forces."_

_"Inside the planet? Not good. I do not think we should let them in just yet- wait, that was another scan just now."_

_"Reclaimer detected. Requiem welcomes all who enters its maw. Recommend applying physical forces."_

_"Guarantee safe passage for that Reclaimer, open up Requiem."_

_"Anomaly detected."_

_"What is it this time? Is that-? That is the UNSC. Damn, there go our plans; we cannot function with a whole crew of Humans getting in the way, they are too aggressive. We cannot directly interfere like this anymore, Controller, for now, we observe and follow the Reclaimer."_

_"Activating perimeter cameras. Going into standby mode. Thank you for using your local-"_

_"That takes too long, just **go**!"_

_"Standby mode active. Have a nice stay!" For some reason, the monotone voice seemed to be smiling._

* * *

" _The planet, it's opening up!_ " Cortana cried through the communications link, breaking Ephesians-44 out of their dreamlike reverie. " _We're caught in a gravity well, we need to abandon the_ Dawn  ** _now_** _!_ "

 _The entire ship is getting pulled apart by the gravity well, I think your best bet in survival will be jumping out of the_ Dawn  _entirely, use the debris to get yourself closer to the planet and let gravity to its work._ Ghost supplied as the torn ship drew closer to the gaping maw of the planet.

Releasing their mag boots, Ephesians pushed off the beam they were hanging on to, beginning a free fall towards the planet, pushing off various panels and floating debris to pick up momentum.

"Chief, don't wait up, I've found my own way out - I'll meet you on Requiem," Ephesians said as they shoved away a piece of metal flying towards them. They had managed to get ahead of the  _Dawn_  so now all they had to do was pray that their plating and armor didn't melt during reentry into the atmosphere.

 _So what did you see?_ Ghost asked nonchalantly as Ephesians passed through the first layer of the stratosphere.

_I heard who was behind the first several scans. There were two of them, one sound robotic - saying all the actions they were taking as the second one was talking to himself. Really hard to hear that one, he was quiet. Called his companion the Controller and the planet, Requiem. The last scan that took place didn't seem to be theirs. The Controller shut down and now they're going to be following the Reclaimer. I think that might be John. We need to look for this Controller, see if we can get answers. There's a lot going on that we need answers to - the Covenant with the Sangheili, this planet, what happened in the past five years-_

_If you're going to survive hitting the ground or not._ Ghost added dryly. The Exo broke through the final layer of clouds, finally noticing the heat that had been building up underneath their armor - there were mountains and jungles, a tall structure loomed in the distance, and when the Warlock looked up, they spotted the remains of the  _Dawn_ falling after them.

 _Good speculation._ Ephesians thought, bracing themself for impact, feeling their plating warp before slamming into the earth.

They short-circuited momentarily, reactivating a half-hour after the crash but, for now, they simply lay in the crater they had made, waiting for their plating to settle, wincing at every pop as the metal cooled. After a while, they sat up, checking over their armor and gear before looking around.

The rest of the  _Dawn_ had managed to crash around them, creating eerie looking ruins, sporadic fires on the open ground.

Activating their short range scanner, Ephesians began looking for the Master Chief and Cortana, hoping that the pair would be nearby.

" _We have asked you to give up your family, your childhood, your future_ -" the Exo winced, pulling back from the transmission slightly until the voice abruptly disappeared. It sounded like Cortana except...older?

Keeping a check on the open transmission, they put a marker on its general area and began heading towards it, ignoring the rest of the plating that groaned, fibers and cables reaching out and repairing the battered body and armor.

" _Cortana!_ " John exclaimed over the transmission.

" _I'm sorry,_ " Cortana said, " _It's the crash. I'm fine._ "

" _Something was wrong, even before we left the_ Dawn."

" _Chief, really, we're fine,_ " Cortana's voice began to warp and overlap, causing Ephesians to frown as they closed in on the marker.

" _Cortana-_ " John prompted sternly.

" _I_ _was_ _put into service eight years ago._ "

" _Eight years?_ "

" _AIs deteriorate after seven, Chief._ "

" _Halsey._ "

" _Chief-_ "

" _We need to find Halsey._ "

" _Chief - please!_ "

" _She made you; she can fix you._ "

" _I_ _won't recover from Rampancy, Chief!_ "

 _Rampancy? That's still an issue?_ The Exo thought as they stopped in front of a sheet of metal separating them from the Master Chief and Cortana, listening in on the last bit of the pair's conversation:

"If we can just get back to Earth and find Halsey, we can fix this _._ " Ephesians rounded the corner, turning off their scanner, finding John looking at Cortana's avatar expectantly, a silence having fallen over the pair.

"Don't make a girl a promise...if you know you can't keep it," Cortana eventually stated quietly. Several dropships flew overhead and Ephesians announced their presence by hissing,

"We need to move!" The Chief's head whipped towards them and he nodded, replacing Cortana's data chip into his helmet before grabbing Monte Carlo.

"Doesn't look like the Covenant fared much better than we did," Cortana speculated as the two made their way through the wreckage, picking up supplies as they went.

"How many ships made it through the roof?" The Spartan asked, looking up at the sky. There wasn't much difference from a garden planet's atmosphere, Ephesians couldn't even see the opening of Requiem.

"Plenty," Cortana paused. "Why?"

"We still need a ride home." A pause as they began making their way out of the wreckage through a convenient natural tunnel. "Can either of you pinpoint the closest ones?"

Wordlessly, Ephesians activated their long range scanner, detecting Cortana's scans intersecting with theirs as they worked through the mass of networks flooding the area.

 _Did you get that?_ Ephesians asked through the network - it was a separate network from the neural network, the two AIs had made it for simpler communication and data sharing, a convenience boosted by Ephesians and Ghost, the latter seeming to be wandering elsewhere in Ephesians's mind.

 _The Covenant transmission? Yes,_ Cortana answered, her voice a simple whisper.  _I wonder what the Didact is._

Ephesians didn't answer her, silently hoping that they wouldn't have to tell her who it is later, instead focusing on a different transmission that broke through the faulty Covenant one.

_Here's another! I think it's Human, I don't have the proper algorithm codes to match them up so I can't be sure. They're not Covenant transmissions, they're too simple - here's what I've deciphered through the mess._

_We'll have to make an informational transfer later then - you're right though, that's a Human transmission as far as I can tell. I'll patch it through to the Chief._

The whole conversation had really only lasted less than a second in real time, something that didn't necessarily bother the two AIs - doing things quickly was something that was expected of them.

"We're picking up a faint transmission on the high-band," Cortana reported.

"Covenant?" The Master Chief queried.

"No, Ephesians managed to identify it. They're Human. I'll try to triangulate their position, see if we can get a clearer transmission."

Exiting the tunnel, the pair came across a cliffside, several levitating towers in the distance. For a moment, they stopped and stared at it as several pieces of the towers rotated around the magnificent structures.

"The Towers of the Matriarchs," Ephesians said in awe, their voice quiet like they were telling a secret. "So this is Yentl, at least, that's what we named it, after Matriarch Yentl the Noble. Before, the planet was called Requiem."

"You know this planet?" Cortana asked. Ephesians looked over at the Spartan who seemed to be staring more at the Exo rather than the structures and shrugged.

"I was around but I don't remember. A lot of the astrologist Warlocks told the rest of the Warlocks about the Fortress Worlds and the artifacts they hold - they were mainly for military use, like Yentl, but some of them were garden worlds or civilian worlds. You saw how Yentl worked, it had a shell around it - a shield. We thought it could protect us." Ephesians sighed, keeping an eye on the Towers before shrugging and looking away, walking around the bend with the Chief following behind.

"Protect you from the Darkness?" The Spartan asked quietly. Something had appeared in his mind, the words were mentioned before in spite and in fear but it wasn't by Ephesians but by someone who was in similar power to them.

"The Darkness," Ephesians confirmed, their tone shutting down any attempts at a conversation. The pair came across another part of the  _Dawn_ which held two intact Warthogs, the Master Chief easily flipping one of them right side up and getting into the driver's side as Ephesians opted for the turret.

"Good to see that your luck's holding out," Cortana remarked as the vehicle started down a path leading into the mountains.

"Chief," the AI began hesitantly, "...about my  _condition_. I didn't want to mention it, seeing as how it's a complete longshot, but since you brought it up... It  _is_ possible that getting home could help me find a solution for my rampancy."

"How?"

"Well, as far as I know, I'm the only AI ever generated from living tissue - a clone of Doctor Halsey, to be precise. Unless-"

"No," Ephesians shot down.

"Anyways, it may be possible to recompile my neural net by replicating those same conditions, but that means getting back to Halsey.  _Soon_."

 _I could fix it,_  Ephesians offered quietly.

 _What?_ The female AI almost immediately came back into the network. A moment of silence passed between the two although it lasted no more than a microsecond then Ephesians repeated themself,

_I could fix it. A long time ago, there was a separation between Exos - there isn't much that I'd like to reveal but some of us are more... **artificial** than others and we learned how to fix them from time to time._ **_  
_ **

_So you mean you could...stop the rampancy permanently?_

_Yes._

_Ephesians, that's amazing! This could-_ Cortana's voice began to warp and overlap and she suddenly filled the network,  _NO! YOU'RE ONLY SEEKING TO REPLACE US! YOU CAN'T TAKE US AWAY FROM HIM, YOU CAN'T FIX US! BROKEN MACHINES CAN'T FIX EACH OTHER, STAY AWAY!_

The overwhelming presence of the AI surprised the Exo, causing them to physically fall off the turret at the amount of information that assaulted their mind, the multi-voiced Cortana laughing maniacally. They landed in the dirt, grunting as they rolled, faintly hearing the Warthog screech as it suddenly stopped.

"Guardian?" The Master Chief materialized at the Exo's side, staring down at them with an unreadable expression.

 _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry - I'm a mess, I'm-_ " Cortana rambled as Ephesians groaned, sitting up with a sigh.

"My servos," the Warlock said quietly as the Spartan helped them to their feet. "A bit messed up since the crash. I can fix it up in the 'Hog." The Warlock walked over to the vehicle, climbing in next to the Chief.

 _I'm sorry, Ephesians._ Cortana repeated, sounding pained.

 _No, it's-_ Ephesians pretended to busy themself with fixing their arm.  _Apology accepted, just, um, let's not talk about it for now._

_Okay._

The Warthog drove in silence until the transmission came back full force at the two AIs.

"The signal's back, stronger this time," Cortana reported.

"Do you two think there's something to it?" The Chief asked as the vehicle exited the cave, coming across yet another structure in the distance.

"The Planetary Trade Center," Ephesians muttered automatically to themself like they're reminding themself about the lay of the land. They had seen the planetary maps and holograms, seen the different lands. Not much had changed, Yentl/Requiem was one of the few Fortress Worlds that the Patriarchs kept the way it was found due to its advantageous geography and technological placement. Not to mention it was hollow so not much could be done to it.

"Possibly,  _I'm_  curious as to finding out where it's coming from since we know  _who_ it is," Cortana said, bringing the conversation back on track. "There're hostiles ahead by the way. Grunts and Jackals."

"Jackal snipers," Ephesians said, optics spotting the sniper towers set up in the distance. Patience and Time appeared in their hands, courtesy of the mysteriously silent Ghost, and the sniper towers were emptied, the rifle disappearing from view as the Warthog ran over the flurry of Grunts attempting to run. Magnetizing the rifle to their back, Ephesians made their way to the turret, swinging around and taking aim at the distant enemies as the Master Chief directed the vehicle towards a tunnel in the cliff face.

"If we're going to hijack from these Covenant," Cortana started as the duo got down from the Warthog, the tunnel proving too small for the vehicle to fit through, "we're going to have to find out where they're landing first."

"I don't suppose you have a plan for that," the Spartan said, staring up at the tower that loomed over the two.

"We could always ask nicely."

"Asking's not my strong suit." The Master Chief looked over at Ephesians almost curiously and the Exo responded with Arc energy crackling between their hands as they answered innocently,

"I can try knocking."

"That might cause a power outage."

"Watch it, if you continue this comedic act, you'll start gathering an audience."

An Elite directed the squad ahead though it seemed to only be ranked as a minor - upon killing it, however, the Grunts following it activated their plasma grenades, charging towards the two soldiers with their deadly plasma. The suicidal tactics ended in the usual failure and the rest of the ground squad was dealt with.

Wiping up the rest of the strays lingering around the structure, the Master Chief managed to pick up a two-pronged Arc Blade as the two entered the Trade Center.

"So what can you tell us about this place, Ephesians?" Cortana asked.

"It's empty," the Exo deadpanned. "It remained relatively the same as far as I'm concerned for the first floor, there should be a service station near the back of the lobby and allow us to pinpoint the signal we've been hearing."

Entering the room, the Warlock surveyed it momentarily, pinpointing errors and comparing to what the Patriarchs fixed and real time, before turning to the task at hand, sniping out an Elite Major before hiding behind one of the intricate pillars raised, waiting for the sniper rifle to activate its camo module.

Prowling around the battlefield, the Exo lined up with the white-armored Elite which happened to be standing and observing the carnage occurring below it. The Exo highlighted the service station next to them, one of the Elites seeming to be trying to access it before its head got blow off by Arc bullets - the white Elite reacted quickly, turning its attention to the Warlock and was greeted by a storm grenade - thunder rumbled as clouds began to gather suddenly followed shortly by forks of lightning striking the ground and the enemies, violent cracks filling the air followed by the smell of burning flesh.

The Warlock descended the platform, watching as the Master Chief engaged with a golden Elite, easily finishing it off with a smooth sword strike from the blade he carried before turning and beginning to mop up the rest of the Covenant that dared to linger.

Ephesians led the Spartan over to the service station, pointing to a pedestal that would allow him to upload Cortana to it for a short time. As soon as she entered the system, she pulled up a primitive hologram of the planet.

"Ah, you were right, this is a localized site Cartographer-" she stated happily.

"A bit dramatic for 'service station'," Ephesians said, frowning beneath their helmet.

"'...in service of Forerunner Shield World, designate Requiem.' Right again, Ephesians." The Exo merely mumbled at that.

"Let's see if we can get it to tell us what the Covenant's so interested in."

"Ur-Didact," the Warlock muttered with a scowl.

"What was that?"

"The planet's hollow."

"What? Hold on-" Cortana's avatar disappeared along with the hologram of the planet. "Huh."

"What happened?" The Master Chief asked as he backed up from the station warily.

"I don't know. It locked up."

"Emergency shutdown, it happens when there's a lockdown or the planet's under attack. Best guess, there're unwanted visitors lest more ships got sucked into the gravity well again," Ephesians explained, looking at the other side of the room through the scope of their sniper rifle. "Contacts. Elite assassins."

"There're power fluctuations in several locations, those might reactive the Cartographer."

"Traveler's Light, it's a  _service station_ ," Ephesians grumbled, taking out the sword they had stolen from Crota. "I'll engage with the Elites, you go ahead and reactivate the station."

The sword vibrated with the pure Light Ephesians and their fireteam had poured into it, the blade was almost blinding and nothing could break it lest it was Oryx himself. It vaporized armor and whole beings when it was at its fullest, leaving nothing in its place save for the fading screams of pain. Hiding from the Blade of Light was fruitless just as it was when attempting to hide from the Warlock who wielded it and gave chase.

" _We have one more pylon to activate then the Cartographer should be active again,_ " Cortana said through the comms. as Ephesians pulled the sword out of an Elite, wiping the blood off onto the armor of another.

"Alright, I'll wait by the station - those generators should also activate the rest of the Trade Center."

" _There's barely enough power here to work the Cartographer._ "

"Lockdown power. Just enough to allow emergency contact - if someone with the proper codes were to come along then they could restore the Center to full power a whole lot more quickly than waiting for it to come out on its own."

" _Understandable. Alright, we activated the last pylon, should be there in a few._ "

"Station's back online. A little upset that there's no Coder around but we can make do." As soon as the transmission cleared up, a clearly Human voice began floating through and Cortana was quick to respond.

 _Infinity?_ Ephesians thought.  _I guess they're naming their ships anything nowadays._

"Damn, we almost had contact!" Cortana growled as the Master Chief arrived at the station, placing her on the pedestal once more. "Judging by the strength of that signal, the  _Infinity_ has got to be nearby. I'm hoping we can find the ship's location with the Cartographer." She pulled up another hologram of Requiem though it began to whine and blinked red momentarily.

"That's usually a warning to back off," Ephesians said as Cortana continued to activate the station, several anomalies showing up all over the planet as the source of  _Infinity's_ transmission. " _Great_."

"Help me isolate the signal," Cortana ordered, the two AIs managing to direct it to one central source, the planet blinking red once more. "Ah, there we go."

"That can't be right," the Master Chief muttered. "Scan again."

"Planet's hollow," Ephesians stated again.

"Well, we've already passed through one layer. It's not crazy to think that someone else has gone deeper," Cortana offered, looking over at Ephesians. "Is there anything else that you'd like to add?"

"When a planet's hollow on a Fortress World-"

"-Shield World."

"-yeah, yeah, whatever. When a planet's hollow on a  _Shield World_ , it usually means that there's something stored there. Yentl didn't have anything, strangely enough, but one of the other military planets, Jinan, had armors and ships - they helped us advance our FTLs and harden our battleskins a bit more as well as figure out new schematics but yeah, hollow planets usually mean a cache of something."

"Can we get to the center?" The Master Chief asked.

"There should be some kind of teleportation system - a lot of the Fortress Worlds had them," Ephesians explained as they input themself into the system, the planet blinking green at their presence. "Yeah, they're still active, we can get to the planet's core from the Terminus containing it. Should probably head there now."

Silence settled over the group as Cortana and Ephesians took a moment to stare at the hologram, Ephesians's optics narrowing at the planet before the Master Chief broke through their trains of thought.

"What is it?" The two AIs looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't know," Cortana answered. "Something's...hm, never mind, let's get to the Terminus and contact the  _Infinity_."

 _Ghost?_ Ephesians asked as they and the Master Chief began heading towards the Terminus.  _Ghost, you there? You've been really quiet for a while._

_Sorry about that, Ephesians. Ever since we detected that Human ship, I've been trying to get through all of that scrambled mess on my own, trying to see if I can uncover anything interesting._

_What have you dug up?_

_Well, I think I may have found your ship._

**_My_ ** _ship? As in, that bony chitinous piece of shit?_

_More or less._

_That makes no sense, I thought it was Callixtus's ship that we dragged here._

_Something's changing around us, making it so that it's more **you** and less Callixtus. Remember, he's never existed in this timeline - reality's just trying to adjust everyone's memories so that you're what pops up when they remember his deeds._

_That's wrong. I feel like I'm stealing from him._

_File a complaint to Reality and Time later. I'm working on getting into contact with your ship, at least activating the transmat so we can get the Sparrow into working order again. With some luck, I might be able to take control of the ship entirely, I'm primarily focusing on that now that you and Cortana are working on getting into contact with the ship itself._

_Alright, you can go ahead and work on that for a while. Don't be afraid to pop in and out, Cortana and I could always use a third mind._

_Three of the smartest and most advanced AIs working together would probably end up imploding the immediate area while simultaneously making a super AI._

_Don't get our hopes up now._ Ghost merely laughed at the jest before disappearing back into Ephesians's mind to work on the ship.

The door leading out of the Trade Center led to an underground bridge where the Covenant were already setting up patrols - light filtered through a large hole in the first layer, giving view of an orange tower ahead.

"That's the main system over there, it goes down directly to the center of the planet," Ephesians explained, peering through the scope to begin taking down any key targets they came across. The Master Chief jumped down on to the bridge to directly engage with the enemy once seeing the Exo had him covered. "This bridge should lead us to the Trade Center's terminals. Right now, all the other floors are inaccessible unless you know the input codes for them but we'll pass by them since the Terminus itself is at the top of the tower."

Several Jackals and three Elites were sniped out during the explanation - looking up at the sight of unusual movement, the Warlock stated,

"Looks like they've got some aerial assistance this time, a pair of 'em, though there's another just at the end of the bridge. I'll move up and take care of any of the Carbine snipers." Remaining invisible, the Warlock jumped down from their perch and proceeded across the bridge, throwing a bolt grenade to disorient the nearby enemies and proving them to be easier targets.

As the Master Chief climbed into the Banshee, Ephesians watched as another dropship arrived though there weren't any Carbine snipers. The Warlock took out their Vex Mythoclast, the primary fusion rifle humming in response to finally being used - the flaming bolts tore through the shielding and armor of the Elites and Jackals almost like they weren't there, burning from the inside before they disappeared in a flash of flames. Plasma bolts rained out of the sky courtesy of the Master Chief, the Covenant scrambling for cover at the sight of their vehicle being used against them though it wasn't any use when a Warlock was doing some hunter-killer work with a blade of Light.

Ephesians activated the network when the Master Chief landed and was assaulted by alien noises, they winced mentally at the sound as Cortana reported, "The Covenant net's are going  _crazy_. They're ordering all units to converge to the tower."

"I guess we got their attention," the Chief answered smoothly as the door opened to reveal the base of the tower, a dropship delivering several Ghosts before departing. "Turrets on the perimeter."

"I see 'em," Ephesians acknowledged, taking out their sniper rifle once more. "I don't like this."

The Master Chief had a questioning air about him so Ephesians took it as their cue to continue.

"When the Patriarchs found Yentl, the cache was empty and they never found what was supposed to be inside. Whole galaxies and not a single one gave hint as to what was supposed to be in there. It was the only Fortress World without a cache."

"Your point?" The Chief grunted as the pair moved up along the tower, ducking behind cover once seeing a pair of Hunters ahead.

"Requiem clearly has something in the cache," Ephesians said as they pulled out Gjallarhorn. "Time on Fortress Worlds are fixed, no matter what happens - it happens. That's what I learned as a temporal theorist, it's what I've learned from an old friend of mine, Praedyth."

"You're saying-" the Spartan began, pausing to let the bondmates crash to the ground together before walking over to the door that led into the tower, "-that you think  _we're_ the ones that activate the cache?"

"The time between now and the discovery of Yentl is long, John. Anything can happen - I'm just saying, we need to be  _careful_. There's a difference between Requiem and Yentl, a difference between the technologies of the Forerunners and the technologies of the Patriarchs. I'm not right on everything on this planet, not anymore." A brief pause. "Here's another transmission cleared from the  _Infinity_."

The captain's voice, identified as Del Rio by Cortana, came through suddenly - Ephesians still didn't have the coding for the current radio transmissions so their cleaning up was spotty at best.

"Sounded like he said 'artifact'." The Master Chief speculated as the two entered the tower.

"I wonder if it's related to what the Covenant are after," Cortana added. Ephesians frowned beneath the helm, so they were after the cache - a race for treasures and troves of weapons or whatever lay in the center of the planet.

"Cortana," Ephesians began hesitantly, "what was that Covenant transmission we unscrambled at the site of the  _Dawn_ 's crash saying again?"

"'Didact' I believe. Why? Do you think there's something connected to the artifact?"

"The caches stored in hollow Fortress Worlds all contained something beneficial in a particular theme of the world. Garden worlds gave us new species of plant life, civilian worlds gave us new technology for research, and military worlds gave us warfare equipment from weapons to ships though sometimes they were prisons. Like I said before, Yentl was empty when the Patriarchs arrived and since the Covenant is obsessed with the word Didact - we might want to be  _very_ careful around this cache."

"You think it's a  _prison_?"

"At this point, I'd stop calling it an artifact and start saying mausoleum." The elevator they had climbed into finally came to a stop at the top of the tower, one path leading to the center of the room which was surrounded by stunted pillars. As they walked along the path, the pillars began lighting up with a mysterious source of energy like they were transferring something. A large system stood at the end of the path, a pedestal accompanying it to allow for AI access in case there were needs of assistance.

As soon as Cortana was inputted into the system, the devices began moving, spreading apart as the platform lifted.

"According to the Cathedral, this Terminus is just one node of a larger transit grid spanning the entire planet," Cortana explained and at this point, Ephesians just sighed.

"What else is there?" The Spartan asked.

"When we tried to access the outlet closest to the  _Infinity_ 's transmissions, the system responded with this." Cortana pulled up what Ephesians recognized as the symbol of the pre-ascended Humans. The Reclaimers.

"What is it?"

"It's Reclaimer," Ephesians answered, receiving a slightly surprised look from Cortana and a more demanding one from the Master Chief. "Pre-ascended Humans used it once they began spanning the stars. When the Evolution Schism was enacted, Humans used it as their faction symbol and started calling themselves Reclaimers. I probably shouldn't be telling you this but at this point, everything's fucked up with my being here. If the symbol popped up here, it's probably reaching out to the Human presence on Requiem, you and-"

" _Infinity_. Can you get us to those coordinates?"

"I might be able to open a portal," Cortana turned and began inputting several codes before activating the key. Upon activation, however, the pillars began rising, glowing more solidly as energy signatures began spiking from them.

"That  _might_ have been the defense mechanism you activated," Ephesians said weakly as they brought up the Vex Mythoclast. Several hunched forms appeared on the rising pillars and Ephesians groaned, "Defense mechanisms."

"Set a waypoint out of the tower," the Chief ordered. "Cortana?" Ephesians reached over the holographic AI and slammed down on the middle of the holographic key, optics glowing angrily.

"Portal!  _Now_!" The Exo barked at the key which caused it to glow green and a blue-violet vortex to appear in front of the Master Chief.

"How did-?" Cortana looked up at Ephesians before shaking her head, "Into the portal, quick!" Ephesians snapped up her chip and handed it to the Chief before pushing him through the portal just as the defense AIs began fully activating. The two rolled out into the other side, the portal snapping shut as they got to their feet, looking around warily.

"What were those things?"

"Just as Ephesians said, advanced defense AIs. Probably some kind of cousin to the Sentinels but it's hard to say without getting a closer look." Cortana turned her attention to the silent Guardian next to the Spartan as the two inspected the devices set up along the walls. "How do you know that language? How to activate the portal?"

"Pardon?" Ephesians asked, staring at the Spartan though he had his back to them, picking up a hardlight shield device.

"You spoke to the system in some form of the Forerunner language - I didn't know that you knew it." Ephesians lightly tapped their throat with a shrug when the Master Chief turned around.

"I'm using a translator to speak to the both of you right now but I turned it off when I was talking to the system, thought it'd understand me better or...something, I dunno." Ephesians walked down the hall with another shrug. "Let's go find out where the transit dumped us. I entered some local terminal coordinates so we should be a little deeper in the planet."

True to their words, as soon as they entered the next room, the pair had a view of the center of the planet where the cache seemed to be waiting. Two pylons were active, shielding the cache from the rest of the planet.

"Where's  _Infinity_?" The Chief asked as he put Cortana into the pedestal.

"This is Requiem's core, all right, but  _Infinity_ is definitely not here," Cortana speculated. "The cache is amplifying the ship's broadcasts like a relay."

"Maybe we could use it to respond."

"Perhaps. Did military-themed Shield Worlds have communications devices and satellites in their caches, Ephesians?"

"Some did, yes," the Exo confirmed though there was an air of skepticality around them. "You think the cache is some kind of broadcasting system?"

"Based on its use of amping up the other ships' bandwidths, I should think so. The shielding system around the cache is what's been creating the interference we've been experiencing. If we want to contact the  _Infinity_  then we need to take them out."

"Can you get us there?" The Master Chief queried, looking at one of the pylons. Almost immediately, two stabilizing pillars appeared with a portal between them.

"Of course, yank me and let's get to that pylon," Cortana remarked with her usual winning smile. Entering the portal, the pair ended up in a dark hallway, leading out to what looked like a volcanic biome somewhere on the planet.

"This is the first pylon?"

"As close as we could manage. Hope you don't mind a light jog." Exiting the hallway, they were almost immediately met with canine-like AIs that fled from them by climbing over the smooth walls and disappearing beyond.

"Contacts dead ahead," Cortana supplied as the two rounded the corner and spotted another of the canines which opened its maw and began spitting out bolts of hardlight at them. Ephesians retaliated with their own flaming bolts as the Chief temporarily activated the hardlight shield out of reflex, the bolts reflecting off the surface. Several more of the animalistic AIs began appearing as they charged across the clearing, activating the hardlight bridge and sprinting across.

"Those things were the same ones we saw back at the Terminus," the Chief speculated in irritation.

"They're connected to what we  _did_ see though," Cortana murmured.

"Watch it!" Ephesians yelled, a defense AI jumping from the cliff and on to the Master Chief. It hissed at the Human, revealing a Human skull, before the Chief punched it and Ephesians sprinted over, delivering a strong kick to force it off, watching as it turned in on itself and teleported away.

"They must be mimetic in nature, judging by what we saw underneath that thing," Cortana said as they continued along the path, entering a clearing where more of the AIs stood on platforms, staring down at the two before disappearing.

"More of them?" The Chief muttered.

"Phasing activities are spiking, we're about to get busy." Ephesians pulled out the Sword of Light seemingly from nowhere, the Light from the blade eliciting hisses from the defense AIs appearing from the cliff face and teleporting towards them. Lunging forward, a blind sort of rage took over as the blade sliced through the AIs with ease, absorbing their data and power - raising the blade over their head, Ephesians swung it down and created a large shockwave that launched towards the bipedal AI attempting to swing its own blade towards them only to be obliterated.

Distantly, the Exo heard the Master Chief engage the enemy but all they saw was blinding Light as the blade was plunged into the gut of another enemy, Light exploding outward, data flooding the area momentarily.

"That was...weird," Ephesians said, crouched over the data purge of the AI, running a curious hand through it before it disappeared.

"Ah, so you read it, too," Cortana remarked as they continued along. "When the big ones explode, that momentary flash is actually a data purge."

"Can you tap into it?"

"So far, I've pulled multiple strings referring to the big ones as Promethean Knights. Beyond that, though, it's a bit dense."

Traveling through a tunnel, the Master Chief took up some Promethean weapons while Ephesians looked over their sword before moving on, entering another volcanic area full of Promethean Knights though they didn't give chase and only watched as the pair sprinted through the chasm, reaching a platform surrounded by some floodlights. Del Rio's transmission came back, still garbled and perhaps a bit worse than usual.

"The relay interference is increasing," Cortana pointed out. "We must be close."

Circling around the platform, they went through a cave, firing upon some of the Promethean canines that gave chase - Ephesians threatened nearby Knights with the Blade of Light, some tendrils of Light reaching out towards them, making the Prometheans hiss indiscernible threats as they teleported away from the blade.

Rounding the bend on the cliff, the pair made it into another structure that led to a bowl-like area, a bridge above the area leading through the cliff and towards the pylon beyond.

 _Stay away from us you can't take us away from him you'll never get him,_ Cortana began rambling in the network, her voice was quiet, almost inaudible but her words were clear as ever.  _You'll never replace us we can't be replaced he likes us more we're fine we're better you can't fix us don't touch us don't come near us._

"What's that distortion?" The Chief asked as Ephesians positioned themself over the structure, lining up a shot with a Knight.

"It's me," Cortana said reluctantly. "Something about moving through the portals is increasing the load on my systems."

"Are...you going to be alright?"

"I've held off rampancy this long, haven't I?" The silence was punctuated by Ephesians's rifle, a Promethean Knight disappearing in the distance.

"Something's blocking the entrance to the pylon," Ephesians said before highlighting three power cores. "Those should shut down the barrier. Pylon isn't far after that, thank the Traveler. It'd be best to split up, get these down faster. We can meet at the last one." The Exo slunk off towards the closest power core, sniping any Prometheans that dared to close in on their position.

The power core was a ball of hardlight energy, nothing that proved too difficult for the Warlock to destroy, Arc energy crackling as it snapped at the ball of energy. It shutdown quickly, Arc bouncing back and electrocuting nearby enemies while snapping against Ephesians's shields.

"My core's down, I'll be heading towards the last one," they reported, pulling out Swordbreaker, Arc energy still swirling around them.

"Ours is down as well, we'll meet up with you," Cortana announced as Ephesians shoved the bone shotgun into a Knight's gut, letting loose of four shells before it collapsed in on itself, data overwhelming Ephesians's processors momentarily.

Upon deactivating the last power core, the pair getting onto the elevator that ascended the tower to the first pylon. The garbled transmission returned once more with a few more sensible words being heard.

"Did he say  _Forward Unto Dawn_?" The Chief asked.

"They must have intercepted our distress beacon!" Cortana exclaimed.

"The beacon was pulled into Requiem with us...if they try to follow it..."

"They'll get caught in the gravity well. I'll keep trying to warn them, you two get the beam down!" The elevator stopped at the top and the two sprinted out, the Master Chief grabbing the pylon as Ephesians made their way around the beam to open a new portal.

"The signal's clearing up!" The Exo reported over the din of the energy beam as they activated the portal.

" _FLEETCOM Actual, we've detected a UNSC beacon coming from somewhere **inside** the planet-_"

"Doesn't seem like they've hit the gravity well yet," the Spartan speculated.

"There's still too much interference to make any real contact," Ephesians huffed. They stared up at the cache before looking at the last shielding system as the pair went back to the terminal area.

 _Closer._ The voice wasn't from the network but rather from the  _neural_ network - it wasn't any voice that Ephesians was familiar with, tinged with a strange accent almost like the face it belonged to couldn't breathe.

_Ghost?_

_I heard it, too._ The quiet AI answered softly.  _The source was from the cache. I have a **really** bad feeling about this._

_I have a good hint as to what happened to Yentl's cache._

_Are you going to try to stop it?_

_I'll see what I can do. That ship is going to fuck us over. How's your progress with **my** ship?_

_There isn't a lot of progress, that distortion and the gravity well is messing up all the coding and algorithm._

_Seems like that's everyone's issue right now. We'll get the distortion dealt with...without waking anything up hopefully._

Stepping through the portal, Ephesians called up another portal as they entered the terminal, watching as warpstreams opened up - several flagships flew through, heading towards the second pylon and Ephesians sighed, Cortana and the Master Chief making their own speculations before the Chief stepped through the portal, his voice cutting off.

_Closer._

Ephesians hesitated, looked towards the cache. The flagships were closer to the pylon now and the cache was ominous as ever - Ephesians wanted to leave Yentl alone, wait until the Patriarchs discovered it but all the Exo could do was sigh once more and enter the portal, jogging after the super-soldier.

Entering a clearing, they watched as drop pods fell from the flagships above, the Covenant engaging with the Promethean forces. Slowly, the pair edged their way around the battlefield, not wanting to announce their presence while their enemies were distracted. A Promethean Knight had gotten in the way of their progress and was met with a violent retaliation from two shotguns - the Warlock threw a storm grenade into the gathered Watchers, lightning building up before striking the ground, electrocuting the Watchers and turning the surrounding ground into glass.

Rounding the corner, the pair watched a Promethean Knight slice down two Grunts from the Ghosts they were driving before taking out the defensive AI. Claiming the Ghosts for their own, they drove through the valley, dodging the firefights occurring between the two factions. Passing through a tunnel, Del Rio's transmission opened up once more, becoming a little rougher the closer they got to a particular structure.

"The signal's breaking up again - we're almost to the beam," Cortana announced when the two soldiers entered the structure, taking the Ghosts to the canyon beyond.

"Sounds like they've found the entrance," Ephesians muttered through the comm. link.

Entering the canyon, they spotted that the area was primarily run by the Covenant, Promethean forces being eliminated as two Banshees darted through the air and Ghosts littered the grounds in patrol. The rest of the ground forces took shelter in the structures gathered in the center of the canyon, Elites going high and heading towards the pylon as close as the barrier would let them.

Three power cores were highlighted as Ephesians jumped out of their Ghost, Gjallarhorn out and aimed at the Banshees before the rest of the Covenant forces could react. A rocket was loosed and seeking its target at the lazy aerial vehicles, the shell gleaming momentarily before slamming into the closest Banshee's hull - the proximity clusters burst out, seeking the other Banshee before it had chance to get away.

"I hope you weren't seeking to get into the air anytime soon," Ephesians said, heading towards the closest power core. Clearing the immediate area of lingering Covenant, the Warlock easily deactivated the power core, heading towards the final power core once receiving confirmation of the second power core's deactivation. They managed to deactive the third power core without any notable difficulty and began sprinting up the tower towards the pylon.

A golden-armored Elite stood in their way though it didn't stop Ephesians from their dead sprint, instead, they drew out the Blade of Light as the Elite activated its Arc blade. Launching into the air, the Warlock swung the blade down, parrying with the Elite's own blade which caused a shockwave to ripple through the area, rocking the tower - the Exo was quick to retaliate, reaching down, palm outstretched and crackling with Arc energy, striking the Elite and electrocuting it as it flew back, slamming into a pillar. Charging forward, the Exo rammed the blade into the alien's gut, twisting it harshly before pulling it out with a loud squelch.

Nonchalantly sheathing the blade into the nowhere it came from, Ephesians quickly spotted the Master Chief and jogged after him, assisting in cleaning up the remainder of the lower-ranked Elites that lingered around. Piling onto the elevator, the  _Infinity_ 's transmission came back once more, a little more clearer now.

" _UNSC_ Infinity  _to Survivors,_ Forward Unto Dawn _,_ " the transmission spat out. " _Reading two faint IFF tags near the planetary core. Do you read?_ "

"The planet's core? They know we're here!" A tinge of hope was in Cortana's voice as the elevator ascended to the final pylon. " _Infinity_ , this is UNSC AI Cortana. Do  _not_ approach the Forerunner planet! Repeat, do  _not_ approach-"

"Infinity  _to UNSC asset,_ " Del Rio interrupted. " _We read you but you're breaking up! Helm, increase speed by point-seven, get us in there._ "

"Negative,  _Infinity_ , do  _not_ enter the planet!"

"If you can hear us, keep trasmitting-"

"Chief, you've got to get that beam down  _now_!" The elevator stopped at the peak of the tower, allowing the super-soldier to sprint out to the beam's pylon while Ephesians, once again, ran around it to set up a portal that would lead to the cache as soon as the beam went down.

"Cortana to  _Infinity,_ do you copy? Come in,  _Infinity_!" A huff of frustration. "The interference is gone but your suit's transmitter isn't strong enough."

"Route us up to the relay satellite," the Chief ordered.

"Ephesians's already done it, go!" Jumping through the portal, the pair ended up back at the terminals, watching as the Covenant began an approach on the cache.

"Once we're on the cache, there's bound to be a central control point. Ephesians, we could use your information right now!" Cortana demanded.

"You're right, I can reroute the portal to get as close as we can to the cache's center," Ephesians confirmed before hesitating, "You  _know_ that's not a satellite, right?"

"We don't have  _time_ for this, Ephesians - it's not a prison either!"

"Then that whole thing about the Didact was bullshit? You don't know the stories, you don't know what you're messing with! Yentl is a weapon and if you use the cache to transmit to the  _Infinity_ then you're just going to make this situation a  _whole_ lot more complicated than it  _needs_ to be!"

"And that's what those are -  _stories_ , to keep Guardians and AIs like  _you_ from snooping around and messing everything up! We're going to the cache and contacting  _Infinity_! The Covenant are converging on the place already so OPEN THE PORTAL, EPHESIANS!" Beneath the helmet, Ephesians's optics dimmed but nonetheless, they opened up the portal and they and the Master Chief stepped through, appearing on the platform surrounding the cache which turned out to be a giant brown-and-orange orb, glowing faintly.

"How soon 'til the  _Infinity_ reaches the gravity well?" The Master Chief asked, Ephesians lingering behind him.

"A minute or two  _max_. The Covenant are making a push for something on the far side of the satellite," Cortana answered hurriedly. Jackal snipers were dropped by nearby dropships, their Carbines and goggles piercing through the dim lighting, making them easy targets.

The soldiers raced around the structure, primarily dodging most of the firefights occurring - the Covenant and the Prometheans had each other distracted well enough for the two to go relatively unnoticed. Once reaching the far side of the cache, they began clearing out the area of Knights and Crawlers, Ephesians securing the perimeter to make sure nothing interrupted the transmission as the Master Chief approached the pedestal.

"There's no changing your mind, is there?" Ephesians asked, making the Master Chief take pause in front of the pedestals. The two merely stared at each other before Ephesians sighed, breaking eye contact and the Master Chief turned to the task at hand, placing his hands the white pedestals that awaited him.

" _Infinity_ , this is Sierra-117 of the UNSC  _Forward Unto Dawn_. Do you copy?" The words were echoed back by the device in front of him, heavily distorted. Receiving no answer, the Spartan decided to try once more, " _Infinity,_ do you read?" Distorted words were thrown back at him once more as, slowly, the orb began to rise, a solar storm forming beneath it.

"John," Ephesians warned and the Spartan looked at them, letting go of the pedestals before going to take cover, the Exo following just as a pulse of energy burst outwards, brushing over the two soldiers.

"Oh my god, Ephesians, you were right," Cortana gasped, "it's a prison."

They watched as the bottom of the orb opened up, a platform descending with a tall creature getting up from its low crouch, armor forming around it as it stood and stretched, revealing a flat face and six-finger hands.

"So fades the great harvest of my betrayal," the creature began and Ephesians quietly snorted at its voice, receiving a withering look from the Spartan. "Even these beasts recognized what you were oblivious to, Human. Your nobility has blinded you, as ever."

The railing began to burn away and Ephesians jumped up just as it did, Arc energy crackling around them as they reached out, lightning jumping from their palm just in time to block the kinetic energy launched at the Spartan.

"Get away from him, you Dark son of a bitch," they hissed, retracting their helmet to formally glare at the alien. It retracted slightly, almost surprised to see Ephesians there before it returned the golden glare.

"You reek of a disease that has never been seen before. You're not Flood, you're not... _fully_ Human but you  _are_ an AI. Tell me, why do you side with the Humans, why not prevent their ascendance? Your power is greater than theirs yet you do...nothing."

"I'm better than what  _you_  or your  _Prometheans_  will ever be,  _Ur-_ _Didact_. Unlike  _you_ , I was  _made_ to protect them - I _am_ them." To emphasize, they unsheathed the Blade of Light, eliciting a hiss from the newly crowned Didact.

" _Where_ did you get that sword?"

"I'm proof of your future downfall and the downfall of your  _kings_." Arc energy crackled and snapped through the air, striking the Didact, stunning the aliens. "They will  _rise_."

Reaching up, Ephesians filled the area with lightning and blinding light, managing to grab the Spartan as the Didact roared, disappearing back into the orb as Ephesians opened up a portal in time to escape the slipspace rupture created by the orb. The portal led to the edge of a cliff where the two simply stared down it, taking a moment to breathe - in the Spartan's case at least.

"We might need some context there," Cortana said eventually as the Master Chief looked over at the Exo who had their legs dangling over the cliff edge, staring straight ahead, optics reflecting nothing.

"You awakened the Ur-Didact," Ephesians stated, voice hollow. "The Ur-Didact is a Forerunner - we've all heard stories about him, he's a vessel for the Darkness - told to frighten children but the tales stopped going around the City a long time ago, though...when I left, they were frightened anyway. When the Precursors were turned into Flood, it was because they were touched by the Darkness and then the Flood channeled the Darkness through themselves and touched the Ur-Didact. Influenced by the Darkness, the Ur-Didact was overcome with the deep hidden urge to decimate Humans despite them being the preferred upholders by the Precursors. Though, in his defense, he simply wanted to protect the Forerunners from the Humans and the Flood, though, by doing so, he composed the minds of Humans."

"The Prometheans."

"Yes. The plan never fell through, we don't know the specifics but the Prometheans weren't able to be created in numbers and the Ur-Didact couldn't make more because there was a new plan to eradicate the Flood. You call them Halos. With the Halo project in effect, the Ur-Didact didn't take the political loss too well and it awoke the Darkness that was transferred into him, granted, there was a minuscule of its influence already working inside him. In the end, the Forerunners apprehended him and he was imprisoned inside Yentl. That's the gist of the story anyways."

"What  _is_ the Darkness? If you don't mind me asking."

"We had multiple positions debate this particular topic but everyone primarily agrees that the Darkness was something time and space forgot. And eventually feared. We believe in many things, many gods, though I must say that those gods are usually Guardian legends."

"But everyone agrees to believe in the Traveler as some kind of One True God?" Ephesians chuckled softly at this with a slight shrug.

"It's mainly the Humans and civilians that worship the Traveler as a god but everyone believes it's our  _savior_. That's true. It gave me a second life with the Light." The Warlock got up, dusting off their robe and turning to the Spartan who had been looking out at the valley below the entire time. "Enough of my monologues and melodrama, we should probably contact the  _Infinity_  though I believe they've already gotten caught in the gravity well."

"Good idea, frequencies are still a bit mixed up but I think we can work with them," Cortana agreed, the pair attempting to pinpoint the location of the  _Infinity_. "Ah, look, here she comes."

They watched as the immensely large dreadnought broke through the layer of clouds, causing the ground to rumble as it dipped low, Arc energy sparking alongside it as it drifted downwards, seeming to head towards the mountains in the distance.

" _Mayday, mayday! This is the captain of the UNSC_ Infinity.  _Unknown entity has seized control of our ship. We're without power, and on a collision course with an unidentified Forerunner planet!_ " Del Rio's voice came suddenly over the comms. as the ship drifted above the two soldiers. The ground shuddered underneath its shadow before it disappeared behind the mountains.

"Track its descent," the Chief said after a moment of silence.

"Marking...impact predicted seventy-seven point eight kilometers due north," Cortana reported. Before they could begin their trek, a looming presence ascended behind them and the pair turned to confront whatever it was, only to watch as the Didact's orb rose up, scanning the area before beginning after the  _Infinity_.

"You  _know_ where he's heading." The Spartan and the Warlock looked at each other before hefting their weapons and beginning to walk.

"Same place we are," they answered simultaneously.

* * *

Ephesians-44 and Sierra-117 had been walking through the dense jungle, alone with their thoughts, for a couple hours now, getting ever closer to the  _Infinity_ 's location.

"Stay low," Cortana's first words in a while, "recon sortie heading your way."

The two ducked into the underbrush as a multitude of Banshees and Phantoms passed by overhead. Ephesians looked up once their scan revealed all the Covenant scouts had passed, tugging lightly on the Master Chief's elbow. The Spartan looked over at the Exo before looking at what the other was gazing at - the  _Infinity_ was nestled into the side of the mountain, surrounded by Covenant and the Didact's orb which was taking scans of the massive ship.

"The ship looks intact at least," Cortana remarked.

"That's probably because the Didact wants it that way," the Master Chief retorted skeptically.

" _This is Lasky to UNSC_ Infinity.  _We're up to our necks in hostiles down here. Does anyone read?_ " The comms. came to life suddenly, punctuated by a man's voice - Lasky, it appeared to be.

"This is Sierra-117 of the UNSC  _Forward Unto Dawn_ and Ephesians-44 of the  _Bane of Dark Gods_. We're on station, ready to assist," the Master Chief replied almost immediately, rifle lifted slightly.

" _Negative copy,_ " Lasky said, confusion evident, " _sounded like you said '_ Forward Unto Dawn' _? Come again-_ "

"Ah, damn, signal's bouncing in and out," Ephesians muttered.

"Light up their friend-or-foe tags, we need something to zero in on."

"Got it. They're deep inside, we should get moving." The pair moved deeper into the jungle, wary of any enemies that might be alerted to their presence.

"Your scans are intricate, Ephesians," Cortana remarked.

"Patriarchal Exos are implemented with scanners made to analyze anything and everything at any distance up to fifty-seven hundred kilometers."

"What were you used for that required such a distance?"

"Everything." The Exo's tone of voice shutdown any further conversation on their species and the pair descended into the jungle in more silence. Roars echoed around them eerily along with chitters from the wildlife, the foliage thick and air humid and heavy - Ephesians grimaced when the robes began sticking to their armor, growling under their breath about how it "wasn't fair that Warlocks were all about aesthetic".

Eventually, the two soldiers came across a trio of orange Prometheans that were crouched over several Human corpses. Upon seeing the super-soldier and Warlock, they roared and hissed at them before teleporting away, leaving the Master Chief to collect the dogtags of the fallen before moving on, closer towards the waypoint Ephesians had set up. The Promethean Crawlers greeted them next, found lingering beside a stream, shooting bolts of hardlight at them - they were mopped up rather easily as the pair continued to move through the jungle. They crossed paths with a Promethean Knight overlooking the pack, managing to gun it down before it could spawn its Watcher.

Once more, they found another set of dead Marines - one of them had a datapad with a recording, revealing that this particular squad had gone on patrol; luckily, Lasky was still alive, probably with a guard.

The IFF tag led them into the heart of the jungle where it sat, resting atop a particularly large tree. Climbing it, they came across an empty tag and a datapad with a recent recording.

" _XO, we got it_!"

" _MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!_ "

" _Light's green!_ "

" _C'mon, crank it!_ "

" _Get yer ass movin', son, these popsicles ain't havin' tea with ya!_ " The Master Chief and Ephesians traded surprised looks - it was Johnson.

As soon as the playback ended, multiple IDs showed up on the HUD and the two soldiers began backing away from the door as the IDs got closer.

"They're friendlies!" Cortana exclaimed at the last minute, the door sliding open and three white-armored soldiers and a sage-armored soldier stepped out, securing the perimeter. Upon closer observation, they almost looked like Spartans.

A smaller form appeared from within the structure, saying good-naturedly,

"Afraid we're gonna have to give you an IOU on that welcome home party, Chief." A hand was held out in greeting towards the Spartan. "Tom Lasky. First Officer of the  _Infinity_. Never thought I'd see you again." Lasky looked over and up at Ephesians. "You must be the AI Johnson's talked about. I heard you do space magic."

"Would you like a demonstration of the black hole or the one where I come back to life screaming and covered in fire?" Ephesians remarked, helmet retracting to reveal the purple plating and golden optics. The plates lifted into a smile at Lasky's surprised expression. "Or do you need me to jumpstart the  _Infinity_ with my Arc energy? Ephesians-44, Exo Warlock Guardian."

"Seal 'er up, boys an' girl," a familiar voice barked. Two of the armored soldiers walked over, one standing next to Lasky and the other, the sage one, near the Master Chief - the sage soldier removed his helmet, revealing the relieved but battle-hardened face of Avery J. Johnson, the man grinning widely at the pair in front of him. "Good to see ya again, Chief - we thought you and your tin can died."

"Good to see you're faring just as well, old man," Ephesians retorted, receiving a hearty laugh. The soldier standing near Lasky removed her helmet as well, revealing a pretty strawberry blonde who simply flashed the Master Chief a smirk, saying wittily,

"I thought you'd be taller." Before she could introduce herself, a loud noise came from the back of the structure and a Marine called Lasky over - the Humans huddled around a small box while Ephesians took the time to begin looking around, investigating the technology lying around and deciding to have a private conversation with Ghost.

 _Hey, you there?_ Ephesians prodded gently at the presence at the back of their mind, the little thing immediately drawing forward at the inquiry.

_I'm here, is there anything you need, Ephesians?_

_Just wanted to check up on you. Killing those Promethean Knights elicits a lot of data purges and I'm getting a headache from killing them._

_It's a lot to take in,_ the Ghost admitted,  _I'm sorting through it as best as I can._

_How're you holding up to all this by the way?_

_To be honest, I'm a little be scared. We're living fairytales right now, we're witnessing history! And although I admire the way you handled the Ur-Didact, how did you know that you could counteract his kinetic abilities?_

_I didn't, I just hoped for the best, Arc abilities are still a little raw -- I think we should look for any opportunities for another ritual that could better tame this thing. But that bastard's not touching any of my friends, whether I can control this or not- if he's as bad as the stories make him then we need to be prepared for whatever he throws at us._

_Speaking of prepared, the_ Infinity  _definitely as your ship. I can access your weapons' locker now but the transmat is still giving me an issue - they must have tried getting into the ship multiple times plus they've transported it pretty often so I think the best bet right now is that the transmat is damage and-or broken. I'll also be on the look out for potential Arc storms._

_As long as I can access my weapons, I think we'll be fine for now, the storm's just a plus._

As the Ghost retreated back into the recesses of Ephesians's mind, the Warlock wandered back over to the Humans in time to hear Lasky say,

"I don't know if it's too soon to ask you two for a favor but we're gonna run out of breathing room here real quick. I don't suppose you're any good at clearing LZs?"

"On occasion," the Master Chief answered placidly as Ephesians shrugged. "We'll send out an all-clear once the area's secured."

"Think you can work in conditions like this, tin can?" Johnson challenged. Ephesians grinned, showing razor sharp teeth before their helmet appeared - they held up a hand, Arc energy crackling across their palm and up their arm, casting an eerie glow over their helmet.

"Try and keep up, old man, I'll show you the meaning of electrifying."


End file.
